


Circle Daybreak

by persephone20, willow redfern (persephone20)



Category: Night World - L. J. Smith
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-07-25
Updated: 2003-07-24
Packaged: 2017-10-20 18:49:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/215986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephone20/pseuds/persephone20, https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephone20/pseuds/willow%20redfern
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Each chapter are the 'deleted scenes' involving the Circle Daybreak characters out of L. J. Smith's nine <i>Night World</i> series. (Not including: Strange Fate.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Can A Vampire's Love Be Forever?

**Author's Note:**

> Begins just before Quinn arrives to speak with Ash in 'Daughters of Darkness' - the Second Book in the Night World Series.

The engine of a car drawing to a close signaled the newest arrival to the little gathering on the small hill in Briar Creek. Poppy, James, Ash and Rowan turned around to see who the interloper was. The car door opened and a dark haired male stepped out from it. Ash growled. Vermin!

It wasn't bad enough that his cousin and soulmate had already just announced that they had come over here and planned for a short stay while they looked for some place more permanent where they could be together without unwanted interruptions from other Night People? Now, adopting a purposeful stride towards the foursome, the human coming towards the group of vampires gave every impression that he felt in no danger whatsoever! Either that, or he thought himself somehow above it.

Poppy blinked twice from next to her soulmate. There was something familiar about this human, something that she hadn't seen in months, since she'd first become a vampire to escape the mortal illness that would have killed her if James had not stepped in first. Although it seemed like a lifetime ago when she had last seen him, there was no doubt in her mind as to who this man was.

Signaling behind her absently, Poppy started forward slowly at first, and then increasingly faster.

"Phil?" she questioned incredulously, not quite believing that it could be her brother, here of all places and so far away from home. Then the practicality of the situation swept over her and her mood dulled a little at the sight of him. "You know you are not supposed to be here."

"Poppy, you have to understand. I can't just let you walk out of my life like that. Things at home are a wreck. Mum and dad; you wouldn't recognize them anymore. It really is that bad. And I. . . I miss you, sis."

While Poppy struggled to harden herself against her older brother's words, she became aware that James had moved up beside her again.

"Phil," he said coldly.

"James," Phil replied in the same tone, barely sparing him a glance. Hard to guess that these two had known each other almost Poppy's entire life from the way they were now. But then, a lot had happened in the past 12 months.

"I think you're forgetting, Phil, that your sister did not walk out of your life like anything. She walked out on her own, as we've been through before." The words out of James' mouth were quite pointed, and at some time during it, his arm slipped with propriety into Poppy's.

Phil's eyes lowered to catch the movement, before he fixed them again on his sister.

"Poppy, please. . ."

"James, is this. . . human disturbing you?" Ash's voice rung with authority from behind them.

Without thinking about it, Poppy's eyes closed in sudden tiredness of the whole thing. James and her brother together were bad enough; but she knew Ash enough already to know that he would only succeed in making an already bad situation so much worse. Couldn't boys, whatever species, just let things alone sometimes?

Before James could reply, Poppy deliberately cut in on top.

"No Ash, I believe we're fine here. Just a little space is all that's needed and it can be cleared up in a moment," she uttered, her jaw hard. Her head turned slightly to anticipate James' reaction to her interference. He had better not override her in this, that was all she could think!

It seemed that that was one thought successfully passed between the two soulmates, for without actually having to look down at Poppy, James nodded his head once to his cousin.

"Yeah. It's okay Ash, really. This will just take a second."

Poppy breathed out in relief. One immediate problem out of the way. Now onto the next one. But when she gave her brother her attention again, she realized that his attention had drifted elsewhere.

And turning her gaze ever so slightly, she realized that the object of that attention, Rowan, was returning the attention. Poppy cleared her throat significantly. Following on only a second later, Ash growled his displeasure and stepped in the way of Phil's sight to Rowan, who deigned to remain silent just then.

"Fine. This better be fixed up now. That's all I can say. Enough of the laws have already been broken around here," Ash muttered pointedly, before stalking away and dragging Rowan along behind him.

Once they were out of sight, Phil gave his full attention back to his sister, continuing to ignore James who was still beside her.

"Phillip. . ." she began, not quite knowing how to go on to telling him to stay away from her when all she really wanted was him to stay in her life this time.

"No. You're not doing it again this time. I've been reading stuff. Everything I can get my hands on. There is a way around this. You don't have to stay apart from your whole family forever!"

"Oh? And how would I go back even now, Phil?" Poppy asked, beginning to get quite annoyed at him. "Say, 'Sorry mum, the doctors were wrong all this time. Why didn't I come back? Oh, well you see, I'm a vampire now.' It wouldn't work, Phil, why can't you see that?" Tears began to appear at the sides of her eyes. "You've gotta stop this now, before it gets you hurt. It could get you killed!"

Phil took a step forward and grasped her smaller but still stronger hand within his.

"Please. Can we just try it for a while? If it doesn't work, I can go back and nobody will be the wiser. Please Poppy. Remember how we used to be? Can't you do this for the sake of those times at least?"

Poppy looked helplessly down at their clasped hands, and then up at James, apologizing to him with her eyes. James opened his mouth to object, knowing already what she was about to do, but Poppy's eyes turned pleading. After a moment, James huffed and turned away, in effect telling her to do whatever she would.

"Only a very small time, Phil," Poppy answered finally. "I don't want to be the reason for your death. And Phil? When I tell you to go, you have to promise me that you will."

Phil sighed outwards.

"Okay Poppy. I promise."

*

"Absolutely not!" Ash stormed in anger that had been evident from the moment he had seen Phil walking in with his cousin and Poppy. "He is not staying with us. Why the hell should we put ourselves in danger for. . ."

The look that James shot across the room silenced Ash, at least for that moment.

"Look, it's only while we're staying here. And he's not staying with us much longer than that anyway," James said, including Poppy in his look with that last sentence.

"Exactly. We'll be moving on our own way again soon," Poppy reinforced.

"Oh, whatever," Ash said in aggravation. He pinned Phil with one of his more dangerous looks and for the first time since arriving, Phil seemed genuinely intimidated. "You touch any of my stuff; I'll kill you."

He spun away before any replies could be mustered, but was muttering moodily under his breath when Mary-Lynette hesitated at the door a little while later.

"Stupid James for bringing in even more trouble for us to be tracked by! Like we don't already have enough here."

He swung around and his eyes softened slightly as he realized suddenly what he had said in his human soulmate's company.

"Not that I mind. You and. . . I, we're not the trouble I was talking about, it's just that. . ."

"I know what you were talking about," Mary-Lynette told him, walking slowly into the room. She put a soft hand on his neck between the shoulder and jaw line. Ever so slightly, Ash moved his head so that he was nuzzling into the side of her hand, almost as though he wasn't consciously aware of doing it.

Mary-Lynette withdrew her hand.

"You know, you're going to have to leave here. By your own words, it's not safe," she said softly, looking directly into his eyes, her hand still tingling from the soulmate contact. "Somebody from the Night World is going to come and. . ."

"Mary-Lynette, I am somebody from the Night World," Ash reminded her.

"Ash, you know what I mean," Mary-Lynette sighed.

"I know." Ash paused, his head still lifted proudly. "So, where does this leave us then?"

Mary-Lynette was put off answering for a moment when Jade and Kestrel came crashing into the room. The two sisters looked at the scene they had walked in on, then at each other, and became decidedly uncomfortable looking.

"Did we just interrupt something here?" Kestrel asked archly. At Jade's expression, she became contrite. "Forget I asked that. We're just going to be. . . we're going over here now."

When Rowan came through a moment later and with a dirty look over at Ash, followed in the direction her sisters had taken, Ash swept his hands up in the air. The moment had passed. He stalked across to one of the chairs and slumped gracefully into its cushiony depths. With a wary look turned towards the doorway the three sisters had gone through, Mary-Lynette followed to his side.

"What's wrong with Rowan?" she asked.

"Oh, what does it matter?" Ash asked, his sour mood of before again restored. "Look, you'd probably better go. There are some things that need sorting out that a hu. . . that you don't want to be here for."

Mary-Lynette stepped back and nodded in understanding.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked.

"Yeah. Tomorrow," Ash answered without much emotion.

*

"Kestrel, could I talk to Jade for a minute?" Rowan asked tersely.

Kestrel looked up from what she was fiddling with, a pert reply at the ready. She swallowed it as soon a she saw the expression on her sister's face.

"Um okay, yeah. I guess so. . ." For all that her comments were kept under wraps, Kestrel sent a loaded expression towards Jade before quietly closing the door behind her. Oh great, now she was going to be stuck alone with Ash and his 'mood'.

"So. . . what did you want to talk about?" Jade asked, looking up at her eldest sister with more than a little confusion in her eyes.

"Well, I don't guess that it's anything so important," Rowan hedged, taking a seat opposite the bed where Jade was. "I just thought you might have a clue on these sorts of things. . . with the way that you and Mark have been lately. . ."

Jade's expression turned from confused to a wistful far away look. Although they had decided against turning him into a vampire, what the two of them shared was very beautiful. Very close; closer than she had ever imagining being to another person. Very. . . inside of him.

And very illegal by Night World law. Maybe that was what Rowan wanted to talk to her about, thinking to spare her pain before it got too intense between them.

"The way me and Mark..?" Jade questioned, trying to pull more out of her sister.

Rowan ran a frustrated hand through her raven colored hair.

"Look, I'm not even sure myself; there was just this. . . something passed through me when I saw. . ." Biting her lip until she drew blood, and then darting her tongue out to lap the beads, Rowan decided to attempt another tack. "You've met Poppy's brother, haven't you?"

A smile began on the edges of Jade's lips.

"Poppy's very. . . human brother?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Enough of that," Rowan said testily. "I don't even know if it was anything; it was just. . . Oh I don't know. Maybe nothing at all."

"Look, if it is something, you might as well go for it." Jade looked deep into her sister's eyes. "I mean, it's hardly like you're going to bring more trouble down on us right now, right?"

Rowan couldn't help but smile at that.

"So. Speaking of, how are things between you and Mark at the moment? Have you decided what you're going to do so far as a lasting relationship yet?"

*

"It's Quinn. He's here already."

Rowan bit her lip, a habit that was becoming, well, quite a habit for her in nervous times. She, Kestrel and Jade were standing by the kitchen window, shielded from outside sight by the hanging curtains. Jade was biting a nail. Kestrel was putting forth a cool and calm outward appearance in front of the others. Behind them, Poppy and James were working on keeping Phil out of sight and silent.

Everything was depending on Ash's performance out there talking to the Night World representative who had been sent here as soon as the L.A. outposts had caught wind of rumors of foul play occurring in this area. Even if they had tried, they could not have thought of a worse, more suspicious made vampire to bring over here to ruin them.

"Who's this Quinn again?"

Poppy only glared at her brother to keep him quiet. Phil looked immediately subdued.

"Quinn is a very old, very scary vampire," Poppy answered, barely above a whisper. "And, if Ash doesn't manage to convince him that everything is under control here, we're all going to be in some pretty serious trouble."

"Hey, I think he's actually buying Ash's story. And he looks extra eager to get back to Los Angeles. Special bonus," Kestrel murmured. "Look, he's already walking back towards his car. Ash is seeing him off."

Rowan stepped away from the window and turning around, her eyes instantly rested on Phil. For a moment, the air seemed taken from her lungs, until Jade turned around and bumped into her.

"He's gone! Quinn's gone. And Ash is coming back inside," Jade said with an elation that everyone there understood.

"Well, what happened?" Kestrel pushed as soon as Ash closed the front door. Even James seemed genuinely interested for once in what his cousin had to say.

Ash paused a moment, more to heighten the anticipation in the room than anything else. Kestrel slapped him.

"Come on then!" she insisted.

Ash smiled a leisurely, catlike smile.

"Well," he drawled slowly, "He's satisfied that everything here is taken care of. But there was one extra tidbit of interesting information that I probed from his mind when I was checking to make sure that there was no suspicion left in his mind about us. He's even happy for you three to stay here a while if you so wish."

Again he paused, just to be infuriating. Another look passed between Phil and Rowan. Poppy rolled her eyes and moved into James' arms, gladdened now that the news seemed good, even if not all of it was being shared yet.

"If you're just going to leave it at that, I'm going over to tell Mark the good news," Jade interjected after a while, breaking the weighty silence.

"Alright, there's just one more thing." Ash looked at his youngest sister almost fondly. "I think this is going to interest you most of all. There was something about a new group within the Night World that the elders are worrying about. Apparently more and more members of it are popping up all over L.A., but nobody can seem to find where they are all gathered. It's called Circle Daybreak. A group of vampires, witches and werewolves who have found their soulmates are human or are just generally getting along with them in peace."

With every passing word out of Ash's mouth, Jade's face lighted even further. As he came to a close, she was positively glowing. Even Ash's face seemed openly softer than its usual sternness. So surprised were they by his words and expression that nobody in the room noticed how close Rowan and Phil were now standing next to each other.

"Go on," Ash finished. "Fetch Mark and tell him to bring Mary-Lynette with him. Let's tell them both the good news." Then, almost as though he could not stand any further happiness, he inclined his head to everyone and left the room.

After Jade had gone to get Mark and Mary-Lynette, Poppy and James went off to be alone and only Kestrel, Rowan and Phil were left in the room. Kestrel opened her mouth to begin a conversation, but then very quickly realized that she would not be listened to in either case.

Rolling her eyes and muttering something about a taint in the air, Kestrel flounced off, leaving Rowan and Phil completely alone for the first time since they had met the day before.

"So, sounds like vampires and humans together might not be so terrible after all," Phil murmured.

"Well, you can never be too sure when it is Ash who's telling you these things," Rowan said flippantly.

"Yeah, have to say that I have noticed that not so open part of your brother's personality," Phil commented. "Not that I'm getting down on him or anything. I mean, he is still your brother. . ."

"Even if he's not very fond of you," Rowan finished.

"Well, yeah. Noticed that too," Phil admitted.

By now, they had stepped closer with each passing sentence and were standing only inches from each other's faces.

"Could be a vampire thing," Phil continued. "Don't think there's any lost love between me and James either."

"I don't think you're so bad, and I'm a vampire," Rowan told him.

"That's a plus," Phil acceded. He paused a moment, seeming to weigh up his words before speaking them. "I don't suppose we could go so far as to admitting you even liked me?"

"I think there could be worse things," Rowan replied.

"Well, that's good anyway," said Phil stiltedly.

Rowan smiled gently, before her head tilted to the side.

"You're not. . . nervous. . . of me, are you?" she asked.

"Nervous? Of you? Of course not," Phil said. "I mean, I could be. . ."

"Don't be," Rowan said, before leaning in the remaining inch and kissing him sweetly on the lips and taking away the rest of the room in the action.

Phil's arms, well muscled for a human, wrapped around Rowan's lithe form. She moaned her pleasure softly, and clung to him even more tightly. One of her little, pointed teeth lightly pierced the inside of Phil's mouth, but rather than pain, there was only the sudden opening and melding of two minds into each other.

 _Is this what Poppy felt? No wonder she was able to leave. . . It's a gift!_

Thoughts merged with wonder and the birth of love. Looked like there was going to be more than one member of their family seeking out this Circle Daybreak idea in the end.

*

The cars were being loaded up for the road trip across to L.A. James, Poppy, Rowan and Phil all together in Phil's car. Jade and Mark were already sitting tight in the car Ash had driven down to find them in the first place. Ash was standing on the front step of the house they had lived in during their stay, talking softly with Mary-Lynette.

"It isn't looking too good over there, is it?" Jade commented, looking out the window over Mark's shoulder. "She's your sister. You know her. Do you think there's any chance that..?"

Mark was already shaking his head.

"She's not ready. She knows it. She won't stand to ruin what could happen between her and Ash now while knowing that it's not the right time for them." He offered his soulmate a sad smile. "She can be almost painfully stubborn sometimes."

"And how about you?" Jade asked, leaning her head into his chest and trailing a fingernail up and down his arm. "How do you feel about leaving your sister?"

"Honestly, she would be far more annoyed if I stayed for her while you went away with Ash and the others," As he watched his sister out of the window, saw the pain in her eyes as she spoke to her soulmate, an echoing pang shot through his own heart in response.

"Are you sure you won't come with us?" Ash was asking softly. "Please. Please come with us. With me."

Although the most part of her was a puddle, Mary-Lynette forced herself to stand firm in her beliefs. As hard as it was for her to do, she pushed him back an arms length.

"I love you. You know that. And I know you'll come back to me. When it's right, we'll both feel it. On that day, I'll be waiting for you. Besides, someone's got to stick around and look after dad, and since there's no reason for Mark not to go. . ."

"There's no reason for you not to go as well," Ash murmured, leaning past the space she had put between them and kissing her softly along her cheeks and nose. "All you need to do is say one word."

"I know," Mary-Lynette whispered. "I'm sorry, Ash. I'm sorry. It has to be goodbye right now."

Ash bowed his head, perhaps the first break in his great pride that she had ever seen in him thus far. Then, as if gathering himself again, he lifted his head up and nodded.

"I said I'll be back for you. One year. I'll be back," he said, before picking up the last of his things to pack in the car, and joining his sister and her brother and leading Phil's car down the path and out of Mary- Lynette's sight.

With a sound somewhere between a sob and a sigh, Mary-Lynette collapsed in a pile on the stair, Only Ash's promise to return and the knowledge that her father was waiting for her to come home kept her together. She dreaded to think of what he would say as soon as she told him that Mark wasn't going to be coming home tonight. Tonight or any other night.

It was going to be a fun couple of week's transition to come.

*


	2. Three Sisters to Die For

The beginnings of the drive to Los Angeles was a quiet one; in both cars. In Phil's car, a small argument over who was going to drive had started the trip. Phil's argument of course had been that it was his car, while James had insisted that it was smartest to have a vampire at the wheel for the sake of no need to rest and faster reaction time if it was needed. Also, since Ash was driving in front, it made sense that another vampire be following his directions.

At the end, which much prompting from Poppy and Rowan, the boys had decided that Phil would drive first, while it was still light and he could see clearly, until they came up to a petrol stop, at which point James would take over, and so on. This also meant that the girls had to change places each time a swap was arranged between their soulmates if they wanted to continue sitting by them. Amused glances were exchanged between the girls whenever they caught each other's eyes or their boys were griping.

Still, it was a lighter mood than the one in Ash's car. He was so full of brooding over his parting with Mary-Lynette that it filled up the whole car, even succeeding in zapping all of Jade and Mark's happiness together. They settled on merely sitting side by side in the backseat of the car with their hands clasped unobtrusively so as not to throw in Ash's face what they still had together. Kestrel merely sat in silent contemplation in the passenger seat, looking out the window at everything they were passing.

The entire trip followed on pretty much in the same way.

Only once they were within L.A borders did the dynamics change slightly, at least in Ash's car. He was opening his mind to any trace of the kind of feeling he would expect to get from a group with the ideals of Circle Daybreak. From the beginning, he didn't hold a great deal of hope in the action, indeed, every vampire, witch, werewolf and other Night Person searching thus far in vain for the same group had probably tried the very same trick, but at the same time, Ash did not know what else to do.

Perhaps somebody from inside of the group would pick up on his thought wavelength, figure out that it was different in intent than others before him, and link up to direct him to wherever he was supposed to be heading from here. At the moment though, Ash was driving as good as blind.

"You don't know where you're going, do you?" Kestrel asked, deciding that now was a good time to turn her attention from the road outside and onto her brother.

"I've gotten us this far, haven't I?" Ash gritted. "I'll get us the rest of the way."

"Okay, that's good. But right at the moment, you don't know where you are going, do you?" Kestrel pursued.

"Kestrel, let up," Jade pleaded from the back seat. Mark squeezed her hand reassuringly, and she turned to smile in return.

"Look, I said I would get us there, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. For Christ's sake, Kestrel, we just got into L.A. borders!"

"Okay, okay, no need to get snappish," Kestrel said. "Just because you're missing your soulmate. . ."

"That's it!" Ash planted his foot on the brake instinctively, but quickly realizing that if he stayed like that, Phil's car would run up his ass, he shifted his foot back to the gas again. The whole thing resulted in a great jerking movement that shook up everyone in the car. "There will be no mentioning of Mary-Lynette in my presence!"

"I didn't mention her, exactly," Kestrel muttered.

"Kestrel," Jade repeated.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Can we just drop it now?"

Again, the car resumed its silent nature.

*

"Yikes, what the hell was that?" Phillip asked incredulously from be backseat. He leaned forward over James' shoulder. "What the hell does that cousin of yours thing that he's doing? Does he want to cause an accident with my car?"

"It wasn't exactly your car that he was doing anything with," James reminded him, once both cars were back on a smooth track.

"But he could have! Goes to prove that vampires aren't automatically better drivers," Phil muttered, annoyed that his pride and joy might have almost gotten ridden off so easily.

"It's lamia," James uttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Phil asked.

"Lamia. That's what we are called. The born vampires. Vampire isn't usually the term that we go for," James answered, not taking his eyes of the road.

"Oh," said Phil. "So what do you call Poppy then?"

"Just your garden variety ordinary vampire," Poppy answered before her brother and soulmate could get into yet another argument. Honestly, they were as bad as each other! "Nothing fancy for me, seeing as I was just made into one."

"There's nothing ordinary about you," James disputed lovingly. "I wouldn't have fallen in love with you otherwise."

"You fell in love with me because I was your soulmate," Poppy teased him. "You had no choice in the matter!"

"That's not true! Tell her Rowan," James appealed.

"It's true, James," Rowan said, dashing his hopes with only three words. "You could hate her but you would only be hating her for loving her because she is your soulmate. You don't get a choice in it."

"Well I think that's just blatantly not true," James said defiantly. "Of course, it would explain. . ."

"James," Poppy warned before he said anything about Rowan and Phillip's match.

"I wasn't going to say anything," James maintained for the rest of the drive.

*

In another corner of L.A., inside of a well guarded mansion, a made vampire by the name of Thierry Decouedres caught the mind wave of a lamia vampire from the Redfern family. Thierry was the very oldest of the made vampires, made by Maya Hearth-Woman herself; the very first of the made and lamia vampires alike. Thierry had powers of the likes that most other vampires could not even conceive.

It had been he who had put together the idea of Circle Daybreak originally. It had all started in the moment he had seen his many lifetimes with his soulmate in her eyes just after he had killed her and ruined everything. He had known then and acted on that knowledge since, that disputes between Night People and the mortal world was not the right way to go about things. It had been a way to pass the years between his soulmate's many lives as an Old Soul. He would find her again, just as he had so many times before, but this time, he knew he could not be late again. This was going to be the right life; he was sure of it!

Along with the help from a loyal and powerful werewolf named Lupe Acevedo and a former Circle Twilight witch called Melusine, Circle Daybreak had first been born. Finally Thierry had enough power and a standing in life where he could make his move and be sure it would be accepted by other Night People. The Soulmate Theory was coming back into effect, and with it, the changes in perception between many Night People and human counterparts. Another powerful made vampire by the name of Nilsson was in charge of security hereabouts, and slowly, Circle Daybreak was beginning to make an impact on the Night World at large.

Subtly searching out the intent of the mind of the lamia vampire to ensure that it wasn't a trick, Thierry was able to discover without the vampire's knowledge that this was Ash Redfern; a particularly vicious vampire by all accounts. His eyes narrowed as he stared off into the blank space that was allowing him to pull off this trick. Could this vampire actually be believed that his intents as far as finding Circle Daybreak were pure? And what of the others who traveled with him?

Four other lamia, all out of the same Redfern family. A made vampire, who was not only the soulmate of one of the lamia, but also a lost witch. Another lost witch was traveling with them, who was also the soulmate of one of the lamia, and finally, a normal human boy who was soulmates with the youngest lamia vampire in the group.

What an odd bunch to be traveling together, but as such a group, they made a credible job at believability. The only thing missing among their count was a werewolf or 'shifter of any sort.

"Lupe," Thierry found himself calling out. He had just found the perfect way to find if this was bluff or not.

The young, female werewolf answered her summons almost immediately.

"What is it you wish of me?" she asked bouncily.

"I need you to carry something out for me," Thierry disclosed. "It is a little matter of trust within Circle Daybreak. Are you up for it?"

Lupe gave a wolfish grin.

"You name it and I'll be there!" she answered with surety.

"That's just what I wanted to hear."

*

He had a tail.

Ash had been suspecting as much for some time now, but as the night grew darker and the lights from the car behind him became more obvious, Ash knew that now was the time he had to do something about it.

"Hold on everyone," he muttered tersely, before swinging the steering wheel to the side sharply and ignoring the cries of complaint from all around him. He could just imagine the kind of reaction that he was getting from James in the other car, but right at the moment, it didn't matter.

The primary concern for all of them had to be losing that tail. He couldn't be absolutely certain that his broadcasted thoughts hadn't reached the wrong people; people who would now possibly be tailing him for information on the stuff he had been sending out.

And there was nothing good about the way those sorts of Night People liked to extract their information.

"Ash, what on earth are you doing?" Jade cried from the back seat. Mark was white lipped beside her.

"Saving our lives if you must know," Ash answered. "Anyone with objections is free to jump out of the car now. Otherwise, stay quiet and don't ruin my concentration."

Immediately silence was adhered to. Ash kept turning this way and that, trying to lose the tail, and quite certain by now that he had managed to lose his cousin in the process. He just hoped that James wasn't being tailed as well. The damn pretty boy had spent his whole life among humans. He had no idea of street life; something that was damn well needed in situations like this one.

Again with the sudden movement and no warning this time, Ash swung into the next alleyway and screeched on the brakes. Looking up into the rear vision mirror, he saw that the car behind him had done the same thing, almost as though they had been expecting him to stop right then. Okay, this had to stop. And now!

Forcefully shoving open the front door and stepping out of it, Ash strode towards the car behind him that was just opening its own doors. As a tall, burly guy, a vampire Ash immediately picked out, stepped out of the front seat of his car, Ash grabbed him in no uncertain terms by the lapels of his well-styled jacket.

"What the hell was that all about, hey? What the hell do you think you're playing at?" Ash yelled directly into the made vampire's face, not even noticing when somebody else stepped out of the car from the backseat on the same side.

"Ash. Put him down."

Out of surprise that someone would actually speak to him that way, Ash loosened his hold on the other vampire, allowing him to jerk back and stare at Ash coldly. Looking up and down this new person, Ash realized that he had never seen her before in his life, so how did she know his name?

Behind him, Kestrel, Jade and Mark had left the car and were now coming up to his side; Kestrel intimidating, Jade consoling and Mark looking as if he was wishing to be elsewhere.

"How do you know my name?" Ash asked grimly, mindful of Kestrel standing beside him with annoyance radiating from every finger of her hands that were on her hips.

"I know more than that about you, Ash," the girl, who Ash now picked up was a werewolf. "For instance, I know what you are like to humans. Vermin, as I believe you like to call them. I'm very interested to know why you are suddenly so friendly as to offer a lift for one in your very own car." The werewolf's eyebrow raised up archly at the implied question.

Jade put a protective hand on Mark's arm and made sure to stay a little way back from Ash at the same time as taking a cursory look around them to make sure they weren't about to be ambushed by any other Night People where they stood unarmed in this alleyway.

"Funny how you seem to know a lot about me, but I know nothing about you," Ash commented harshly.

"Oh, you may know more about me than you think," the werewolf said cryptically. "But we will get back to that later. I'm more interested as to why you were trying to send out 'welcome us Circle Daybreak' messages ever since you drove into the L.A. borders."

"I don't have to answer to you for anything," Ash told her.

"Maybe not, but I'd say my boss has a pretty hefty interest in finding out what you know and why you're so eager to hook up with these people. Could it be that you are traitoring to the Night World? To your people and family? To, what? Make harmony with humans like the ones you have tortured and eaten from for so many years? Don't make me vomit."

"I didn't come here to make you vomit."

"Then what did you come here for, Ash? Cause believe me when I say that I would really like to know."

Both werewolf and lamia stood at loggerheads against each other, made vampire standing stiffly behind her, two lamia and a human standing beside him, all unknowing as to what to expect next.

"I came here so that I could be left alone. Do my own thing. And sure, if I want to take my fill of transient humans that won't be missed while I'm here, what business of it is yours? And if I don't, good luck to me. Basically, your kind and mine have never seen eye to eye on. . . well, anything really. And right now, it's looking to me as though there is a really good reason for that."

The werewolf smirked at that. Ash narrowed his eyes. There was something there; something beneath that smile that he ought to be picking up on here. If only he could just. . .

"You're from Circle Daybreak," Ash accused.

"Really? And what makes you say that?" the werewolf asked, giving nothing away.

"Just tell me straight. Is that why you've come here tonight, caused me to lose my cousin and eldest sister? Well, did we pass your test, or is there more to come?" Ash asked testily.

Again with the smirk.

"Oh, I'd say you passed the test. If there were one. Thierry was pretty sure already that you were genuine in your pursuit of us. I was just here to come collect you and lead you to him. And you didn't lose your cousin or your sister, nor either of the other two in that car."

Flashlights at the end of the alleyway they had driven in from temporarily blinded them, causing them to blink the light out of their eyes before it was shut down to a dimmer light. Putting his hand over his eyes and only just resisting the urge to growl in his displeasure, Ash focused sufficiently to find that it was James who was driving the car and all four inside of it were opening doors and striding over to meet the little group already assembled there.

"Told you they were on their way here. You don't think that Thierry would have allowed us to split you up intentionally, did you?"

"Ash, who is this girl?" James asked, stepping foremost of the group.

"Good question," Ash agreed. "One that I've asked without avail." He turned his attention back to the werewolf. "I've heard of this Thierry that you keep on talking about. Old, powerful made vampire they say. And you work for him."

"Oldest," the werewolf corrected. "And I don't work for him, I work with him. My name is Lupe by the way, and this is Nilsson. Congratulations everyone," she said, turning to the group from the second car. "You've just found Circle Daybreak."

*

Long after Ash, James, Lupe and the others had gotten back into their respective cars, they had come to drive up the driveway at Nilsson's lead, to the largest mansion most of them had seen.

"Nothing like hiding right smack in the middle of the public eye," Mark uttered absently. For Ash, James, Rowan, Kestrel and Jade who were used to the idea of Night People living in the best places the human world had to offer them, the sight was no great surprise.

With Lupe and Nilsson's help, there was no trouble in getting everyone's belongings into the house in the first run. Each of them were directed to their own rooms within the house by house servants. Rowan, Kestrel and Jade had a room to themselves, as did Ash and James. Poppy, Phil and Mark were put up together in a third room, all of which were located on the fourth level of the house. Only once everyone was settled, with all the belongings sitting in the correct rooms and such, did the group of eight relax enough to move downstairs to where Lupe, Melusine and Thierry himself were sitting around a large table waiting for them. It was question time, and this was going to take all night.

"I trust you all found your living quarters comfortable enough for the time being?" Thierry questioned as more of the house servants brought food to the table.

"Very," Poppy answered with a smile, holding James' hand under the table. Ash tried not to look upon them too enviously.

"Quite," he replied. "So now you've got us here, what do you want to do with us?"

"Always so suspicious, Ash?" Thierry asked politely. "Oh please, everyone, do help yourself to the food here. It is out to be eaten."

Jade and Mark smiled affectionately and each helped themselves, mostly to Mark's favorite food that he wanted to share with her. Phil picked at this and that, not feeling particularly comfortable here, even with Rowan still sitting at his side. Kestrel downed the glass of blood that she had quietly asked for, but ate nothing. Ash took a couple of mouthfuls, but they tasted sour in the face of his continuing ignorance in the larger scheme of things. He waited patiently for Thierry to speak again.

"Well, to answer Ash's question, now that I have you here, I would very greatly love to find out more about all of you. I believe from Ash's mental calls all of today that you know something of the organization I have started here..?"

James looked at Ash strangely, having no idea what mental calls Thierry was talking about.

"Perhaps I have assumed wrongly," Thierry questioned, catching the look between the cousins. "Would you all like it if I gave you a short rundown on the idea of this group we have here?

"Essentially it will be a haven to those Night People, and of course humans who stumble or find their way across our secret world within a world, who might have broken outdated and no longer relevant laws within the Night World community. Understand please that this does not mean we look towards breaking all the laws that the Night World stands by. That would be chaos. But we do like to keep a broader mind and try to be more accepting of those who may be. . . different to us."

Thierry paused, and steepled his fingers against one another, looking around the table to see how his guests had taken his information.

"It certainly seems like a good idea," Phil murmured. "Personally, I never did like that rule about killing any humans who stumble upon vampires. . . or happen to fall in love with them."

With a small smile, he leaned over to take Rowan's lips with his own.

"And this brings me to another point," Thierry said, looking fondly at the couple. "The Soulmate Theory is back in effect and stronger than any time before now."

"I'm sorry, the what?" Kestrel asked. "You mean this thing that's making everyone crazy in love?"

Thierry smiled indulgently.

"Not the way that I would put it necessarily, but I believe that young Kestrel here has caught the idea very well," he agreed. "It has never been so much as a problem before within the Night World either, because always before, soulmates to the Night People were always other Night People. Obviously," Thierry said, glancing significantly around the table, "This is no longer the case."

He took a sip of the red wine in the chalice that was placed in front of him.

"Now, I couldn't help but notice what a mismatched group you have turned out to be," Thierry continued in bemusement. "Indeed, it was the part of the reason why I was so quick to trust you. You know, Ash here does not have the best track record when one is mindful of a group such as this."

His sisters seemed to find this massive understatement and, coupled with his recent changes, highly amusing. Ash merely sunk even deeper into himself, and made a point of glaring at everyone around the table who dared to laugh at him.

"So, we have four lamia," Thierry reiterated. "A mortal boy and two lost witches, one of which," he looked at James, "Has been turned into a vampire. I am struck by what an interesting combination you all make."

Mark and Phillip were looking back and forth from each other with strange expressions on their faces. After a moment of uncomprehending silence, Mark was the one who opted to speak out on his bewilderment.

"Two lost witches?" he asked Thierry. "Only one mortal boy? You're mistaken, surely."

Thierry looked surprised by this question, as was Rowan. James and Poppy, after initially meeting each others' eyes, were making sure to avoid everyone else's in the room; especially Phillip's.

"Poppy? Did you know anything about this?" Phil asked, bewilderment still evident in his tone.

"What, you mean you haven't told him?" Thierry asked. "But I was certain that you knew," he said to Poppy.

"I did," Poppy admitted. "After James made me. . . he told me then. It wasn't so much like breaking the Night World law that way."

"But then, if you are. . . and I am. . . that means that I wasn't really in any danger at all by knowing about all of you. You lied to me." Phillip had the look of a man who didn't believe a word of what he was hearing. He turned to his soulmate and found worry in her eyes. "Did you know about this?"

"No! Well yes, but I thought you knew about it too," Rowan said, biting her lip.

"Oh dear, I seem to have caused trouble here," Thierry mused. "But isn't it better that he does know? This way he might have some way of defending himself should the need arise; know that he has the power to do so."

Mark looked glum in his seat next to Jade.

"And here I thought that I wasn't the only normal human," he said softly, almost as though he had lost his best friend. "Now I just feel kind of useless among all of you guys."

"Don't be silly!" Lupe was quick to jump in. "I'm the only werewolf, and I don't feel useless," she pointed out.

"Ah, but you aren't the only Night Person here," Mark pointed out.

Jade squeezed his hand tightly in hers.

"Don't be like that," she murmured to him. "Why do you think I love you so much? I love you exactly the way you are."

Across the table, Phil was still looking as though someone had taken the bottom out of his stomach without him realizing it. He looked up at Poppy, and seeing her pitying eyes upon him, immediately looked away again. When Rowan tried for his attention, he stood up resolutely.

"You know, I think I'm going to go up to my room and think about this a little bit. Alone," he said to Poppy when she began to stand up after him. "I guess. . . I guess that I'll see all you guys again in the morning."

"Bye Phil," a couple of them around the table said to him as he was leaving. Poppy just sat back down next to her soulmate again, looking greatly disconcerted.

"Don't be disheartened, please," Thierry said in his fatherly tone. "It will all work out for the best in the morning. You'll see. And as for you," he said to Mark, "While you may be the only human with us at the moment, you certainly won't be the last. This only makes you the first, which means you are just as special a part of all this as the rest of us."

Mark was silent a moment as he allowed these words to filter through his mind. When the penny finally dropped, he nodded his head, a sudden smile spreading over his features.

"I'll be like a pioneer!" he decided. "A pioneer for the humans within the Circle Daybreak part of the Night World."

He said it with such surety that nobody around the table saw that there could be any reason to dispute his claim.

*


	3. A Good Witch, A Bad Witch, A Human Boy

"Hey Phil, I know you're not asleep. You couldn't fool me when we were kids, and now I've got this. . . you know, super vampire hearing, or something. Come on Phillip, won't you just speak to me?" Poppy pleaded when she reached their bedroom later that night.

Mark was still saying his goodnights and glowing about his being a pioneer to Jade, so they had the room to themselves for the time being.

"Phillip?"

Her brother spun around on his bed suddenly, causing Poppy to step back in shock.

"Alright, let's speak," he said in a tone that Poppy hated. It was the 'let's fight this out in the open' tone, and Poppy knew that she wouldn't like what was about to come next.

"Why don't we start about you keeping things from me. You keeping James' being a vampire from me seemed to start it. I mean, after that, it was just lie after lie after omission. Became a bit of a snowball for you, didn't it? James is a vampire. James is turning you into a vampire. You want to be turned into a vampire. You're no longer allowed to see me because of being this new Night World person. But hey, now you were a lost witch as well. And hey, guess what, so am I? So I guess that would actually mean that we could still stay in contact with each other, if you told me about it, wouldn't it?" Phil asked, asking question after question until they all seemed to run into each other in front of Poppy.

"You know, I remember a time when there was nothing that we would keep from each other, Poppy. Nothing. But obviously that doesn't mean anything to you now. Not since you've got your new Night World friends!"

"But Phil, they're your friends too! What about Rowan? She's your soulmate!" Poppy cried, tears beginning to well in her eyes.

"Oh yeah, and what a great help you were with that one too. After I basically forced my way back into your life again, for a week no less, I caught a glimpse of a girl that was to become everything to me. But even then, if it wasn't you, it was your mate Ash dragging her away from me so that I wouldn't find out about it. Oh, and is that week over yet? That week after which I would go back when you told me to go on the promise that I wouldn't argue with you? All you've got to do is say the word, remember?"

"Alright, first of all, Ash is not my 'mate'," Poppy began. "And secondly, I didn't think that it could actually work out like this. Of course I'm happy that it did; ecstatic about the way things have ended up between you and Rowan! I'd had no idea that it could even be this way. After everything James had said. . ."

"And of course you'd believe everything that he had to say to you," Phillip said.

Poppy stopped. "That's not fair, Phil."

Phillip sighed.

"No, you're right. It's not fair. It's not fair that you came down with a terminal disease. It's not fair that James had this fantastic opportunity where you would not die like the doctors said you would. It's not fair that after you left them, our parents would never be the same again. You're right, Poppy. None of it's fair. So please excuse me if I need a little bit of time to try to deal with this latest bit of unfairness that had taken everything that I thought I knew before and turned it over onto its head."

Poppy stepped back a little bit. It was actually worse that she knew what he was feeling here. She couldn't fault him in wanting to take a little bit of time to deal with it all. Remembering her delirium while James had been in the process of changing her, she had to admit that her brother was taking all of this one hell of a lot better than she had! Maybe giving him a bit of space and time to deal with all of this was best after all.

Then Mark came back into the room, ending the conversation at that point anyway.

"Goodnight, Phil," Poppy murmured softly before the lights went out. "I love you."

*

The next morning just as they were finishing up their breakfast meal at the same table they had sat around last night, a number of the house servants, as well as Nilsson and a couple of the vampires under his hand, ushered in an old and bent woman, a middle aged woman and a beautiful, young, though obviously blind woman with something akin to reverence.

Poppy looked up from her food and over to her brother in reflex. He didn't seem to have anymore of an idea of who this new person was than she did. And no reason why he should, really. But then, when she looked next to her where James was sitting, she saw the same reverence in his eyes just before he stood up in his respect to her; a gesture that his cousin Ash, and his three sisters followed almost immediately. Finally, from across the table, Mark just looked across at Poppy and Phillip with an 'if you can't beat them, join them' expression, before standing up as well.

"Please, you don't have to do that for an old hag such as myself!" the old woman spoke, brushing off the many servants that were hustling around her.

Privately, Poppy felt that the old crone was exactly right in what she had said. Then she felt confused as to why she should feel like such a traitor for those very thoughts. Head down, she stood up in the attempt to make herself feel better, which had Phillip standing along with her.

"Grandma Harman, Mother Cybele, Aradia. I'm so glad that you could make it so quickly," Thierry said, standing up and walking over to her to take her hand in his respectfully. He then led her over the an empty chair to the left of him, and then pointed around the table to everyone sitting there. "These are the ones I was telling you about. You already know Lupe and Melusine."

"Unity," Melusine murmured with the deepest of respect.

"Unity, my child," Mother Cybele replied in the traditional greeting of the witches. "And unity to you all," she added, encompassing the rest of the table in her greeting.

"This is Kestrel and Ash, both of whom I'm sure you already know, along with their two other sisters, Jade and Rowan and cousin James," Theirry continued.

The old woman raised her eyebrows upon seeing Ash sitting there.

"I have heard many interesting things about you over there years, young man," Grandma Harman murmured. "Not so many of them good. I must say that it is surprising to find you here amongst these people."

Although the words on their own might have sounded harsh, the kindly twinkle in her eye took away the sting. From Ash's stance in front of her, it was clear that he had a lot of respect for the woman.

"No more than I, I can assure you!" Ash said dryly, in what was quite possibly the first joke he'd make since leaving Mary-Lynette. "It is an honor to make your company here."

"And I you," Grandma Harman replied. Her gaze drifted to the three lamia sisters. "And don't think I have not heard too of your little escapades of late. I am not so surprised to see you here as your brother. Perhaps it is the only way to get away with running away?"

"Perhaps it is, Grandma," Kestrel replied with a small, though respectful smirk.

Meanwhile, the maiden Aradia's sightless eyes were rested on Poppy and Phillip, quite a different expression on them. Indeed, when Poppy met the young woman's eyes, she felt something irrevocable going through her, changing her forever. She scarcely dared to look across the table to see if her brother was feeling the exact same thing.

It barely registered into her notice that Thierry was formerly introducing them.

"And I should like you to meet Poppy and Phillip. They are two lost witches, recently re-found."

"We realize that, you old bore," Grandma Harman replied lightly, breaking the moment.

The first thing Poppy did once released from it was glance across at her brother. Yep, the same thing had happened to him too. An instant later, the young witch spoke to them in her soft, gentle tones.

"My children," she murmured. "Today is such a happy day. I have found two of my witch children, and they have chosen to work for the harmony of all. You have found a great love in James," she said to Poppy. "But you. . ." Aradia stared closer through Phillip. "You are having trouble in the finding, are you not? Rest easy, it will come better as time goes on."

"Thank you, ma'am," Phillip murmured, not knowing quite what else to say.

"Ma'am?" Aradia smiled kindly. "I believe that I am far too young for such an old sounding title."

"Excuse me," Poppy interjected quietly, drawing the attention back to herself for a moment. "But who exactly are you all?"

"Why, isn't that obvious?" Mother Cybele asked. "We are the Maiden, Mother and Crone of all the witches. Surely Thierry told you already? Shame on you, Thierry. That should have been the first thing you told them!"

"Well excuse me. I had rather thought that perhaps filling them in on what exactly Circle Daybreak stood for ranked pretty high as well," Thierry replied. Poppy couldn't help but notice that he spoke rather differently with the three powerful witches present. "But I have yet to introduce you to young Mark here."

"Ah yes. The honorary human of Circle Daybreak," Grandma Harman said mildly with a welcoming smile.

"Glad to hear that I'm so well renowned!" Mark grinned.

"Not so," Grandma Harman said, playing with him a little. "You forget as a witch, I've a certain knack for knowing things that others might not. Also, while you are the first, you will most certainly not be the last, as I am sure that Thierry has already informed you. Circle Daybreak used to be a much larger group, and more than half of its members were ordinary humans."

Mark's face fell somewhat.

"You step down off your high horse before you fall off," she rejoined. "But I won't actually suggest it, since I know that you won't take the advice anyway." She paused for a second, and coughed heartily into her hand.

"Grandma Harman, are you okay?" Thierry asked in worry.

"Yes, yes, no need to fuss," she said impatiently. "Now, I can't stay here for long, Tobias will be back to take me home before the day is out, so I suppose that it's time to talk about the important things, yes? Good. Because I think my grandchild, Thea, is going to be in need of the support found only in Circle Daybreak before too long."

*

Long after the Maiden, Mother and Crone had left, the group as it stood had attempted to decide on a plan of action that they could all agree on. In the end, it was decided that Kestrel and Ash would be the ones who followed on in Grandma Harman's wake straight across to Nevada to help Thea, her soulmate, and any others who found themselves in need of the haven Circle Daybreak could offer them.

Squaring his jaw and resigning himself to the fact that this would be the first of many projects which he was prepared to undergo for the sake of redeeming himself in Mary-Lynette's eyes. It was hardly a case of a dragon, but it was a good enough start. Kestrel was merely excited to be going to Nevada, a place she had never before visited, and smart over the fact that she had been chosen to go over her two sisters.

It didn't matter that they seemed more than happy to stay behind for the time being in the company of their soulmates.

They started over a couple of days later, once they were sure that everything was prepared. Then the news of the worsening of Grandma Harman's sickness reached them.

"This only makes it more pressing that we get over there as soon as we can," Ash pressed, and Thierry was of a mind to agree with him.

Satisfied that everything should run smoothly for their operation, the two lamia siblings set off together, taking Ash's car along with them. The rest of the group gathered around for their goodbyes, before Thierry, Lupe and Melusine rounded the rest of them up to help oversee other matters of importance.

*

They reached Nevada without a hitch. The weather was even good for it, as Kestrel commented gaily. Now all that was left was to find the last two remaining Harman sisters at the Lake Mead High School they attended, and Halloween night was fast approaching.

Too late, Ash suddenly realized as he glimpsed a car that had been parked on the opposite side of the road. Unobtrusively as he could manage, Ash slowed and stopped the car a little way down the road, keeping his eyes on the parked car in question through his rear vision mirror.

A barefoot, dark haired young girl in a black dress was being sheparded into the car, having been brought out from the house that two other girls were trailing from, anxious looks on their faces.

Another look at the inside of the car told Ash something he had glanced over too quickly to notice the first time; the car was already full. And Ash was willing to bet that one of the other small figures in the back seat of the car was Thea Harman, and the defiant dark haired girl was her cousin, Blaise.

He had come too late to avert the thing that Grandma Harman had been most worried over; being forced to bring them in front of the Inner Circle for blame over their wrong doing.

Ash muttered an expletive under his breath as the doors to the other car all closed with sharp sounds, and began to pull out of the curb. Putting his own car back into 'Drive', Ash tried to follow as unobtrusively as he could. This trailing led him near to the alley behind a magic shop. Grandma Harman's magic shop. Not that Ash was stupid enough to follow in that far. He and Kestrel would just have to wait it out from here.

"We're late," Kestrel murmured, watching too as the girls; Thea, Blaise and other pretty young one were taken inside of the house. "What do you suppose Grandma Harman would wish us to do now?"

"Wait," Ash said simply.

As it turned out, they had not long to wait. A mini whirlwind in the form of Thea suddenly expelled herself from the shop, obviously without permission of the members of the Inner Circle who rushed out after here only moments later.

"Here's our chance," Ash muttered. "Blaise and that other girl are still inside there alone. It's as good a chance to talk with them as we're going to get now."

Watching to make sure that all the cars with the Inner Circle members in them were gone clear from all sight, Ash clicked open the front door and stepped out, Kestrel doing the same thing from the other side. At the same moment, the backdoor of the magic shop opened again. Kestrel's eyes widened and her nostrils flared. They were caught!

Intelligent, dark eyes looked both of the lamia vampires up and down a moment. The moment was broken by a voice from behind her.

"Why did you stop? Aren't they gone yet? Maybe we should just go back in and wait for them. We don't want to get into more trouble than we're already in."

Kestrel just raised her eyebrows at this, at the same time as recognition sparked in the dark eyes of the witch.

"Ash. Is that you?" she asked in a low, seductive voice.

Another body appeared next to Blaise suddenly, and her eyes widened at the sight of the white blonde haired lamia.

"Blaise, you know this guy?" she asked in wonder.

Ash bestowed a knowing smile on the second witch who was as yet unnamed to him.

"Blaise, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" he asked smoothly.

"More like Thea's friend!" Blaise retorted. "Oh okay, Ash, Dani. Dani, Ash."

"Nice to meet you," Ash said, inclining his head. Dani merely blushed.

"Oh please," Blaise interrupted. "What on earth are you doing here, Ash? I heard that you were on the west coast."

"Plans changed," Kestrel cut in, not content to be overlooked any longer. "Hello Blaise."

"Kestrel," Blaise noted coolly. "So how has my favorite lamia family been since we last spoke? Is all that stuff with James and his human cleared up now?"

"You could say that," Ash murmured. "But here is hardly the place to talk. Are there any, let's say, more private places to gather?"

"Of course. Follow me," Blaise said, immediately taking the lead. Dani fell somewhere towards the back of the group, still in a bit of a lull over what was actually taking place here. And where was Thea now?

Moments later, they were sitting together back in Grandma Harman's shop. Gran could hardly say that they had willfully run away when they were found here, Blaise had pointed out logically. Nor could the two Inner Circle members who had stayed to guard them here. Even Dani had managed to calm down somewhat.

"So, you never did say what you are doing here," Blaise reminded her lamia relatives.

"I have business over this side for a while. A sticky situation that needed to be cleared up. Unfortunately, it seems that I arrived a short space too late."

Blaise's eyebrows suddenly came down in a quiet, suspicious fire.

"You came here to kill Thea," she asked in a low, angry voice. "My witch- sister, Thea?"

Ash waved his hand at the very idea.

"Of course not. Kill one of the only two remaining Harman daughters? Not even the lamia are so stupid as to order that to be done!" Ash laughed. "What must you think of us, Blaise? Perhaps we are not so favored among you as you suggested before?"

Blaise's eyes narrowed, still far from appeased.

"So how then did you plan to deal with this 'sticky situation' you found here?" she asked archly.

"I don't think that you're quite ready to hear it," Ash murmured, pretending to examine his perfectly shaped fingernails.

Blaise's hands clamped down on Ash's, nothing compared to vampire strength, but more than sufficient to make sure he understood she meant business.

"Try me," she uttered. "I think you'd be surprised at all that I'd be ready to hear."

Dani just looked between the two very powerful people up against each other, and then at Kestrel who was doing nothing to interfere.

"You really want to hear? Even though it would mean admitting to the fact that you knew of your cousin's attachment to her human soulmate?" Ash questioned silkily.

Blaise flushed darkly.

"How did you know?" she hissed softly. Dani's eyes widened. Thea had a human soulmate? But that. . . that meant death. . . both for her and the human. Oh goddess.

"I know many things. Let's just say that I have some friends in high places. Very high places. Such as," and here his smile widened enough to show his sharp little canines on either side of his mouth, "The Crone of all the witches."

Both Blaise and Dani's breaths rushed out of them at the words.

"My Gran told you this?" Blaise asked incredulously. "She knows?"

"Oh come on, you didn't think you'd be able to keep such a big thing from the Crone, did you? Sometimes I think that you sorely underestimate her power seeing as she's also just your 'Gran'," Ash said almost scathingly.

"So. . . what happens now?" Dani asked hesitantly.

"Well, I could say that depends on you. Thea and her soulmate as well, of course, but since you are the only ones here. . ." Ash paused poignantly. "What do you each know of Circle Daybreak?"

They started at the sudden sound of the lock being tried in the front door key, destroying the feeling of well earned privacy that they had been able to talk under up till now. All four waited until the moment they would be found out. Kestrel tried examining Blaise to see how she'd act towards the mention of Circle Daybreak. The other witch, Dani, was almost a definite. There was everything soft about that one.

Both Blaise and Dani stood up as the rest of the Inner Circle, completely with Thea and Eric, entered into the shop. Kestrel and Ash did a good job of backing up into the shadows during the conversation that was held between the group of powerful witches and the two that had broken Night World law.

The Cup of Lethe - a witch's brew for forgetting, was brought out as the alternative to killing Thea and Eric for their feelings towards each other. Without the knowledge of the main part of the Inner Circle, Blaise brought out an in imitation of the stuff, and as Ash and Kestrel watched on, they saw that Grandma Harman, Mother Cybele and the blind Maiden Aradia knew exactly what was being pulled. They would all manage to gather around briefly afterwards, just long enough to speak openly about Circle Daybreak, but not so long as to form suspicion in the minds of the other Inner Circle members.

*


	4. He Knows Her Secrets, Her Deepest Fears..

Blaise stood, looking at Ash with a strange expression on her face. He had been sitting a little way away from the rest of the group while Kestrel did the talking to them about all the Circle Daybreak entailed. As he stared off towards the horizon line, he wondered if Mary-Lynette was sitting at home staring at the same twilit sky. Feeling her presence just behind him, Ash merely shifted his eyes from the horizon without turning around to face the witch.

"What?" he asked shortly.

"What's happened to you?" she asked.

Ash turned his head to face her slowly, one eyebrow rising.

"And what do you mean by that?" Ash asked her.

"You know what I mean," Blaise said, coming to sit down next to him without asking or waiting for an invitation. "You used to be this big bad ass vampire; you loved extracting your own pound of flesh. Frequently! Now look at you. You've come on some 'peace with the humans' mission, and are staring off into the sunset as though it is something significant to you. What the hell happened to you since the last time I saw you?"

Ash rose, brushing down his immaculate trouser pants without looking Blaise in the eyes. He began to stride back towards the rest of the group.

"That's none of your business Blaise," he said over his shoulder. "It's got nothing to do with you. Let's keep it that way."

Blaise narrowed her eyes at his retreating form. No guy spoke to her that way, she immediately flared. Not even if he was a distant relative to her family.

*

"You have a choice. You come with us, follow our rules and be true to Circle Daybreak, or you don't," Kestrel was concluding abruptly.

"There was a witch's circle that went by that name many years ago," Dani murmured to herself. "The humans that knew about it ended up killing them. Burnt them at the stake."

"True," Kestrel acceded. "But that was then. And now, you have your choice."

Thea looked at Eric. She knew she had his support; he understood that this was a part of her life and wouldn't ever dream of denying it to her. But at the same time, she didn't want to go ahead and make the decision without first taking him aside and talking to him about it.

"We're in," Eric suddenly said, holding her hand in his firmly.

Thea's head whipped around to face him. He was wearing his usually gentle smile that reminded her that they had just talked about it, through their soulmate connection, even if not aloud.

"Yeah," she agreed, making it vocal.

Kestrel nodded, looking up as Ash and Blaise returned to the group.

"I'll do it," Blaise said resolutely. Almost too resolutely Kestrel caught onto. As though she was doing it for some other reason than those that Circle Daybreak stood for.

She would have spoken up on it then, had she not glanced Ash's way and seen him shake his head almost unnoticeably.

"Good," Kestrel muttered, meaning anything but. There was just something about this girl that was really getting to Kestrel. Straightening her face before she faced the last witch there, Dani, Kestrel tried to appear genuinely questioning.

Dani glanced over to where Thea was sitting against Eric as though for some sort of hint. Thea merely avoided her eye, refusing to help make what had to be her decision.

"Oh what the heck?" she asked. "It's not like I have any great hatred for humans. You know, only when they're wanting to burn me at the stake because of their own prejudices." She cast a smile over to Eric. "No offence intended."

"None taken," Eric said flippantly.

"Well then," Kestrel said, looking again to Ash.

"I guess we're done here," he finished, carefully avoiding Blaise's eyes when he glanced over each and every one in the group. "Though it will be interesting trying to fit all of us into the one car back to Thierry's mansion."

"Thierry? The Thierry Decouedres?" Thea questioned incredulously.

Eric glanced at his soulmate quizzically, the name itself meaning absolutely nothing to him.

"I don't know of too many others," Ash responded blandly.

"But. . . he's a vampire." Thea shook her head. "I mean, not just any vampire. Maya was the one who made him. First made him. He's the very first of the made vampires."

"Yes, and also the head of Circle Daybreak." Ash paused, watching her steadily. "Is this going to be a problem for you?"

"No," Thea said faintly, wondering how someone who held such status within the Night World could be a part of this. Of course, the answer became obvious almost straight away. How could someone without said status hope to hold down something as big as this in Los Angeles of all places? "I'm just. . . surprised. No problems there," she murmured.

"Good then," Ash finished. "And now back to our original issue. Transportation."

"Mother Cybele," Dani piped up. The others turned their attention back to her. "She was headed back that way after everything from today got sorted out. She, uh, told me when she was telling me to be careful from now on and wishing me luck."

"Probably 'saw' this whole car situation happening," Ash muttered under his breath.

"She didn't need to 'see' anything," Blaise snapped, quick to defend her witch kind. "All she would have had to do was count six of us and four or five spaces for sitting in a car. Basic mathematics is all."

Kestrel looked at the dark haired witch speculatively. Then, snapping herself out of it, she attempted to rally everything into action.

"Alright then, so how do we get in touch with your Mother Cybele?" she asked.

"Simple," said a kindly voice from behind them. "Just ask."

"Mother Cybele," Dani said.

"Unity, Mother," Blaise and Thea said in unison. Thea smiled at it; Blaise only rolled her eyes.

"My children. And your escorts," Cybele said towards Kestrel and Ash. "Shall we organize seating for the drive ahead?"

As Mother Cybele's car was smaller than Ash's, only Thea and Eric traveled with her. Everyone else; Kestrel, Blaise and Dani, traveled with Ash.

*

Thierry, James, Mark and Rowan were standing outside of the mansion as the two cars full of Night People pulled up to it. Blaise was the first to set foot outside of the car, looking stunning as usually, regardless of the fact that she had just spent the better part of several hours cooped up inside of a car with three other people.

Kestrel was next, followed by Ash on the other side. He opened the door for Dani to step out of, then wandered up to the front of the house, nodding his greeting to his sister and walking past the rest of them without comment. Rowan looked at her sister curiously.

"What happened to him?" she asked quietly as the others were being ushered inside by James and Mark, who was talking avidly with Eric. Apparently it didn't bother him not being the only human boy in the house anymore.

"I don't know," Kestrel murmured. "But I think it has something to do with her."

By 'her', of course, she was meaning Blaise. Rowan focused on the young witch with her confident stride into the mansion before Dani and Thea who were talking amongst themselves, wondering how she could have affected their brother's mood. Thierry was lingering next to Mother Cybele's car and they were talking. Rowan decided that it would be best to leave them at it, as she closed without locking the door behind all of them.

*

As James reached the landing with Thea, Dani and Blaise in tow, leading them into the room that would be their shared lodgings while they were here, Phil sidled across from outside of his bedroom. James looked at him strangely, Phil just looked unsure of himself.

"Phil, what are you doing?" James finally asked.

"What, I can't meet the new ones to Circle Daybreak as well?" Phil asked.

"Well yeah, I just would have thought you would have waited until they weren't with me," James said with a shrug, before pushing his hand against a stained wooden door that opened into a brightly sunlit room. "Feel free to plant all your stuff in here. It's all yours."

Backing up a little as they passed into their room, James gave Phillip another strange look.

"What are you doing here, really?" he questioned.

Phil's jaw worked. It was obviously paining him to be in a situation where he had to exchange anything with his sister's soulmate.

"Look, I just want to know something about where I come from, okay? Is that okay with you, Mr I-Come-From-A-Long-And-Powerful-Line-Of-Born-Vampires? I suppose that an ignorance of your heritage is a foreign notion for you, isn't it?" Phil said sourly, each and every word obviously torn forcefully from him. "I just wondered if, you know, I might ask them a little about some things."

His jaw clenched, he waited for the smart remark that he was sure was coming. Instead, when he looked up, James merely inclined his head.

"Fair enough, I suppose," was all he said, before starting on down to the stairs that would take him down to the first level.

*

The group as the whole that they now were barely had anytime to settle in together before Thierry announced the next project to be seen to. It was that of another young lost witch, who had recently just escaped death but appeared to have inadvertently brought a potentially harmfully spirit back with her.

This report had been offered to them by the witch named Melusine who had set up shop in the area as soon as suspicion of a lost witch in the area had caught Circle Daybreak's ear. She had told of how she had come into contact with the girl and that support might possibly be needed.

Immediately, Ash had again volunteered to be the on to go. Not wishing to turn him down, Thierry had dispatched him only one day later, but not before Kestrel had caught Blaise setting her sights, and her spells on him.

"That won't work you know."

Blaise had hurriedly swept the ingredients for her jewelry weaving under her bed, from where she sat cross-legged beside it, and turned to face where Kestrel was leaning against the doorway.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Blaise bluffed haughtily.

"Oh no?" Kestrel took a couple of long-legged strides into the room "I didn't just see you preparing some sort of magical talisman like I heard you tried on Eric before you found out that he was Thea's soulmate? Well I've got news for you, Blaise. Ash has already found his soulmate. You haven't found yours yet, so I wouldn't expect you to understand its pull, but believe me when I say that I have watched three of my siblings go through it, and there is nothing that your little baubles are going to be able to do against it."

Blaise's chest showed her heavy, angry breathing from the lamia vampire's words.

"Well then, I suppose that you won't mind if I give it a little try?" she said defiantly.

"Try it all you like." Kestrel smiled. "I just didn't tell you the most important thing before, because you seem to think that you are some mighty and powerful witch around here. No matter what you weave into that thing, it won't affect the lamia. You think we don't have power of our own handed down by Maya herself? And perhaps I need to remind you that those sorts of spells are certainly not the sorts that should be practiced by anyone who is a part of Circle Daybreak."

Kestrel turned slowly on her heel, moving with her natural grace out of the room again. Only then did she realize how hard and fast her heart was pumping. That was odd. Just from a short spar with the little witch? She must have been more annoyed by her than she had given credit for.

Ash was gone before Blaise could put her magic into play. Maybe that was due to Blaise deliberately putting off the casting for the time being.

*

The day after Ash ran into the lost witch named Gillian, he decided it was time to go speak with Melusine about her. As the shop bell tinkled, signaling his entrance, the witch looked up with a pleasant smile on her face. Then she realized who it was.

"You have seen her then?" she asked without preamble.

Ash made a double take of the shop. It appeared that there was nobody else here, so they were able to talk freely, at least for the time being.

"I did," he owned. "Last night. She was led alone into one of the Night World clubs nearby."

Melusine looked worried.

"She is. . . is she alright?" she asked.

"I sent her on her way. She's alright for now," Ash clarified.

Melusine took a deep breath.

"What now?"

"We wait her out. It's only a matter of time. She met you; she's bound to have felt the pull towards you, a sister witch. She'll come back." No trace of doubt even entered Ash's tone as he spoke.

The bell tinkled a second time. After a quick glance towards the door, Ash stepped out of sight. It wouldn't do for the familiar lost witch to see him again, here talking to Melusine, after running into him as she had done the night before.

*

Thierry sat at the head of his table for their meal. About halfway down, Thea sat uncomfortably. She still wasn't quite sure how to act in this man's presence. It felt so wrong, almost, though more as though she were going to be punished at any moment. She supposed that her emotions were more borne out of fear than any true sense of right or wrong. Still, she had no further idea of how she personally fit into this growing slowly group than she had when she had first entered the house nearly a week before.

The lamia vampire, Jade, had been more than lovely in her welcoming of her, although Thea suspected this had more to do with the growing bond forming between their two soulmates who were even now sitting in conversation between bites of their food. Catching Jade's eye suddenly, Thea wiped off the edgy expression she knew and hated she knew she wore, favoring instead a bright smile for her newest friend.

Although she had known them to be related, they had never had any real contact with the three Redfern sisters in the past, and it had only really been Blaise who had spoken to Ash when he had come by them. There was such openness, such kindness among the group as a whole. Thea found herself constantly wondering why more of the world couldn't see and embrace the ideal of Circle Daybreak.

She also wondered when this constant feeling of guilt for punishment was going to leave her. She knew that she was doing no wrong here! Why couldn't she shake it with the ease that Blaise, and even her friend Dani had?

The made vampire, Nilsson, approached the table, bending down to speak softly in Thierry's ear. Even softer than was necessary for human or witch hearing, Thea noted at the peaking interest of the surrounding vampire senses. In this company, it was certainly needed.

"I'm sorry, if you will all excuse me," Thierry uttered, placing his napkin down on the table in front of him and following Nilsson out of the room with more than casual urgency.

Eating and general movement seemed to stop for a moment. Then, from Jade, "Now what do you suppose that was about?"

It broke the ice, allowing both movement, eating as well as hushed conversation to commence once again around the table. Everyone, it seemed, had a theory, some more nosy than others.

"It could be a group extermination needs be arranged," Blaise said with an air of confidentiality, unable to resist the opportunity to stir trouble. "Vampires in the Night World have been known to do it to keep their secrets and laws. Don't we have our own laws, and one pretty big secret? And Thierry is a vampire after all."

"Not everything is so cut and dried as that, Blaise," Kestrel retorted from the other side of the table. "Some things require some thought as well."

Thea couldn't help but notice that every time she'd seen the two of them in any sort of interchange, there had always been a highly charged argument running back and forth between them. She wondered if it was anymore than the usual vampire/witch rivalry, especially as how well she herself got on with Kestrel's younger sister.

"Who needs thought when everything is spread out so clearly there in front of them?" Blaise asked, loading the question with personal meaning.

"I don't know, I've seen that expression on Ash's face before," Rowan murmured quietly from where she sat next to Phil, partly to divert the growing argument between her sister and Blaise, and partially because she had a point to make. "It's very similar to the look he gets when he gets presented with another task that he sees as taking him one step closer to Mary-Lynette at the end of the year period they've set with each other."

"Mary-Lynette, that's..?" Dani started.

"Ash's soulmate," Jade finished, glancing at Mark to see how this talk of his sister, if only indirectly, was effecting him. "You don't think that. . . could Thierry have one as well?"

"Why not?" Poppy asked. "I mean, is the idea really so inconceivable?"

"So where is she then? Why isn't she here with him?" Blaise asked in a far less romanticizing tone.

"Perhaps she couldn't be," James put in, looking over at Poppy tenderly. "Night World law being as it is and all. I know it's almost screwed up more than one soulmate pairing."

Eric hugged Thea closer to him as he murmured both of their agreement to that statement.

"You guys, maybe we shouldn't all be talking about this like it's everybody's business," Thea put in almost timidly. "I mean, he does have his right to privacy from the rest of us."

"Thea's right," Poppy backed up. "Whatever this thing that took him away, it's Thierry's business until he chooses to share it with us. Who knows, we might be completely wrong about the whole soulmate idea."

*

"Gillian."

The lost witch turned from the boy whose arms were wrapped lovingly around her. She recognized him, she thought to herself. She's seen him before.

"You're that guy from the club, aren't you?" Her eyes narrowed in suspicion for a moment. "What are you doing here now?"

"Only to help, I promise," Ash assured her, hands out in appeal. "I've come here with an offer for you. For both of you."

"Why should I trust you?" Gillian asked, still more than a little shaken up from her bad experience with her own personal 'Angel' who had resided in her head ever since her near death experience.

"Well, that's really your decision, isn't it?" Ash told her. "I can't really do more than stand here and give you my offer now, can I?"

"I knew I should never have let you take care of this!" another voice cut in before Gillian could say anything.

The boy who was with Gillian was just looking back and forth between these two new and strangely beautiful looking people in confusion. What were they doing here, and how did Gillian actually know them?

"Gillian, you came to me when you needed help," Melusine reminded her. "Surely you know that you can trust me."

"I suppose," Gillian asked, not really wanting to be reminded of what she had needed help from.

Realisation finally struck the boy and he suddenly expressed it vocally.

"There's something about them. You all have the same sense of light about you," he murmured in wonder, touching a strand of Gillian's hair with tenderness.

"David. . ." Gillian said to him weakly, trying to figure out why that was important as she turned her attention back to Ash and Melusine.

"Yep, here we go again," Ash said on a sigh. Then to Gillian directly, "Look Gillian, there's something we've got to tell you. Now you can take it as you like, and in the end, the decision over what you'll do with that knowledge is up to you. . . and of course, your soulmate."

"My soulmate," Gillian repeated, her eyes going slightly dazed.

Melusine smiled almost pityingly at the young lost witch and the boy who stood with her.

*


	5. Enemies in Love

"Something's going to have to be done about this," Poppy announced in front of everyone at Thierry's table a couple of nights later.

Their new arrivals, Gillian and her soulmate David, had been welcomed into the fold and shown around days ago. There was now a grand total of three human boys, and Mark had decided to move out of the bedroom that he'd shared with Poppy and Phil and into the one with Eric and David. Gillian had ended up taking Mark's old bed in Poppy and Phil's room to the inconvenience of nobody.

"Done about. . . what?" Gillian asked, food halfway up to her mouth.

"This ignorance issue. Let's face it," Poppy said, warming to her subject, "There are now three lost witches in here, if you count me as well, one of which is a direct Harman descendent."

That claim earned a glower from Blaise.

"Add to that two human boys whose soulmates are a witch and one of the lost witches," Poppy continued, "With two the two well acknowledged Harman witch descendents also a part of the group, and another witch who in part helped form this group, and yet so many of us here are ignorant to the ways of witchcraft and our very heritage. I know that Phil has been trying to search stuff out for himself, and truth be told, I'm kind of interested in finding out more myself."

"Also," Phil added once his sister had run down on steam, "Wasn't the original Circle Daybreak all about educating the lesser magical people in the group about everything that was the Night World? Isn't that what we also stand for now?"

"Quite right," Thierry put in firmly. "There is not nearly enough of the knowledge in this group being shared around. I have given the matter some thought before, but as this is the first time we have all been together in some time. . . well, no matter. Better late than never. I suppose if we are going to do this properly, we are going to need to allocate our teachers. Melusine, I should of course suggest you, as you are the one with the greatest spanning practical knowledge in the group here."

Melusine smiled and inclined her head slightly, indicating that she accepted Thierry's suggestion.

"But Thea," Thierry continued, and Thea's head shot up at being thus addressed. "I realize that you have been feeling somewhat at a loss ever since arriving here. Perhaps you and your sister," he encompassed Blaise in his gaze, "Should like to share the Harman ways with the rest of us?"

Thea opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, Blaise cut in first.

"I thank you, but no. I'm afraid that the idea doesn't appeal to me at all. I doubt that I would make very good teacher material in the first place."

Thea looked at her cousin, her jaw almost falling to the ground. How could she speak to Thierry in that way? She had heard the same stories as she growing up. She'd been there when they'd both been told by Gran! And now. . .

"I would be honored," Thea found herself saying calmly over the astonishment. She imagined her expression being calm and serene, the exact opposite to what she was feeling. A sudden thought occurred to her. "Dani! What about Dani? I'm sure she could do this job just as well, if not better than I could."

As the attention at the table shifted again, Dani's face grew red.

"Oh no, I'm sure that I'm not. . ."

"It is your choice, of course, but we would all be deeply grateful if you would consider it," Thierry said in his kindly persuasive tone.

"Oh. I'll. . . then I'll think about it, I suppose," Dani spoke mildly.

"Lord Thierry, there is. . . someone here to see you," Nilsson reported.

Thierry looked at his head of security an instant before nodding his head once and saying, "Bring her in here."

After only the slightest of hesitations, Nilsson headed away to carry out the head made vampire's orders. Thierry settled down into a calmed state while everyone else at the table were wound up with curiosity. When Nilsson returned, with was with one young girl at his side.

"Thierry, this is Fayth. She wishes to join. . . us."

"It is alright, Nilsson. I can see from here that her motives are good. Come, Fayth. There's a free seat just over there between Poppy and Jade. Tell us all, how did you come to find out about Circle Daybreak?" Thierry said, most probably employing some means of mind control to settle the girl's nerves down.

Human girl, James and Ash noted with one glance at each other. The Night World was really beginning to slip if a human girl could not only find out about it, but walk straight into one of it's organizations, even if this organization was not strictly Night World approved.

Fayth sat down, looking cautiously at everyone surrounding her. Her gaze stopped when they met Eric's and Mark's from a little way down the table, and then again at David.

"Humans," she murmured. "So I am not the only human to find out about the Night World then."

It seemed that in her state of shock, she was voicing her thoughts aloud.

"How did you do that?" Rowan asked. "How can you tell the humans apart from just a glance?"

Fayth looked up at Rowan in some surprise, as though it caught her off guard to be spoken to directly.

"That's easy. Night People are still. Even down to eye flickering. No human can stay that still. The eyes give them away every time."

Thierry smiled slightly, as though this had been obvious to him all along, then directed her attention to him once more.

"Fayth, how did you come by searching us out here?" he asked softly.

Again that surprised look, but this time more quickly covered.

"I can hardly believe that I am here speaking to you all now," she admitted. "It just seems so surreal. Um," she tried to gather herself, "I had this friend, in school. My best friend actually, since early primary school. Turns out she was a witch."

The way that this was said, so matter of factly and without preamble took everyone around the table dumb. Glances were taken around the room, everyone expecting there to be more to it, but no more came.

"And..?" Blaise prompted.

"And," Fayth said, "I found out. Obviously. She got really freaked out one day when I walked in on one of the study rooms and found her. . . working something together with all these strange smells and. . . she said that it wasn't safe for me to know."

"Well there's an understatement," Kestrel murmured.

Fayth gave Kestrel an odd look before turning again to Thierry to finish off her story.

"She'd heard rumors of a group that was trying to bring back the third of the witches Circles back. Circle Daybreak. She said she couldn't come with me because of her family, but she said that this was the only sure safe place I had now. I won't put her in more danger by giving you her name."

"We wouldn't ask for it," Thierry murmured, taking a glance around the table to see how they were taking their new arrival. He couldn't help but notice that Fayth was doing the same thing, at least at James and Poppy, Ash, Rowan and Jade. Lastly, her eyes rested on Thierry, but this time as though trying to figure something out.

Finally, she spoke it out loud.

"It's strange. Do different Circles of witches look different? My friend. . . she never looked the way some of you do."

"How much exactly did your friend tell you of the Night World?" Thierry asked.

"As little as possible," Fayth admitted. "She said that when I found you, I would get told everything I needed to know and that it would be best for both of us to wait until then. I've never seen her like that. They won't. . . do anything do her, will they?"

"We hope not," Thierry said. "But there is something you do need to know right now. We are not only witches here. Those others you were looking at, and myself. . . we're vampires." Thierry gestured towards Lupe who was just walking into the room. "And werewolves. We are all part of the Night World."

"Oh," said Fayth on the end of a breath. "I think I need to sit down."

"You are sitting down," Jade pointed out from beside her.

"Right," Fayth murmured.

"Look, I know this is a lot to take in, but as you yourself realized, there are other humans here who you can talk to about anything that worries you," Thierry comforted.

Mark waggled his eyebrows while Eric nodded and David just smiled. Fayth turned her own smile around to all of them, before asking Thierry, "I know this might be impolite, but I've just traveled a fairly long way. I don't have anywhere else do go. I don't suppose you would put me up here?"

*

Teachings commenced at the beginning of false dawn the next day, a fitting time for the first witches' lessons for Circle Daybreak. Among the early risers were Poppy, Gillian and Phil, Eric, David and Mark who insisted that he wasn't going to be the only human left out of this just because his soulmate was not a witch. Jade had looked on him fondly at this, and said that she'd had better things to do with her morning anyway. Like sleep.

Melusine, Thea and a resolved Dani stood at the head of the room that Thierry had leant out for this purpose for as long as they desired it. He was not present to this first meet, although he expressed an interest in being present for future meets, especially if they were held at more decent hours of the day, or even more preferably, night.

"Well, merry meet to everyone here," Melusine began. "I think we should begin at basic history and move from there."

She paused, waiting for agreement from both Thea and Dani, before going on.

"We are all daughters of Hellewise. She and her sister Maya were each a Hearth-Woman, which is where the name of Harman, given to those females directly descended down that line comes from. When their mother died, she left them both as leaders of their tribe. However, this was not good enough for Maya, who wished for immortality and the sole rule. In the beginning, Hellewise, acting on her love for her sister, helped her out in this, but when it became obvious that she would go horridly far in these pursuits, Hellewise was forced to step back and think of what would be best for their people; her people.

"When Maya finally did find the way of achieving her own immortality, it was at the expense of human lives. In order to retain the life that she had stolen, she was compelled to drink the life blood of other living creatures. She was the first of both made and born vampires."

The group sat rapt at the story. Only Poppy had an idea of some of this history, having been filled in on the vampire part not long after James had turned her some months ago now. Thea was the one who continued on with the story after this pause.

"It is for that reason that the vampires and the witches have such a bond to each other. Tracing way back to those times, we find that we are all related to each other. Thierry," she stopped subtly at the mention of the patron of their group, "Was the first vampire that Maya ever made of her own blood, mixing it with his in the traditional way as it is still done today. Further, she gave birth to the first lamia vampire, by the name of Red Fern, the first of one of the most prominent lamia families today.

"At the same time, the witch line continued down through the two girls of Hellewise's bearing, Elspeth and Edgith. However, Elspeth was lost to us and found by a human family who believed that she had no other family of her own and took her in as theirs. She was to become the first of the lost witches," Thea looked at Gillian, "As was every other witch to be descended down from that line. A witch's power does not come out fully without the proper knowledge of where one has come from.

"And that," Thea finished brightly, "Is why we are all here today."

The three witches standing at the front of the room looked around at each of the members of the group sitting in front of them. Most had expressions of wonder on their faces at the bulk of new information. Even Eric, to whom Thea had already explained most already, was sitting transfixed by the information that was new even to him. David had heard none of it, and turned to see his soulmate's fascinated expression. Mark was gaping like a goldfish; Phil, silently contemplative.

"Well, now that we've covered that, it seems about time to move onto the next thing, don't you think?" Melunsine questioned, snapping her hands together to break the mood than had fallen.

"I think it would do to go outside for their first meditative session," Dani voiced for the first time. "Look, the sun is just rising."

Indeed it was, as everyone could see out of the window. The three teaching witches in agreement over Dani's idea, the group as a whole was sheparded out into the crisp morning air. Finding a restful spot, surrounded by trees but not stifled by them, the stopped and sat.

"Now, close your eyes," Dani said, with a side look towards Thea and Melusine. "Breathe deeply and focus on letting go of all thoughts. If it helps to concentrate on your breathing to begin with, do so."

She watched as the six in front of her slowly closed their eyes and went along with her instructions. Confidence blooming for the first time that morning, Dani beamed across at her fellow witches, before they too closed their eyes with the aim of guiding the lesson from that angel. Dani kept her eyes open and watchful, concentrating on keeping her voice smooth and toned to the mood they needed to achieve for this to be done properly.

"Now, feel your spiritual body rising, see the colored light swirling as mist around you. Be at peace with yourself and your surroundings. You are safe here. Free. Allow your minds to soar boundlessly beyond the limitations of your imposed confinement."

Dani paused again, watching with a serene satisfaction as she saw many of their eyelids flittering as though in a state of R.E.M. Only David seemed to be having slightly more trouble than the others. Soundlessly, she rose from her perch and swept over to him. Molding her hands into his aura but without disturbing him by physical touch, Dani sent subtle mind waves of her own thought to help him along this process. The first time could many times be the hardest, as the mind did not know exactly where they were meant to go. After a few moments in that position, she felt Melusine's presence lingering near by and stepped back to allow the older witch to take over.

Resuming her position so that she could equally see everyone in the group, she began to speak up softly again, this time incorporating it with more of a mental signal.

"Identify the place your mind has taken you. Evaluate your surroundings, but do not think too much on it. Just experience it. Sights, sounds, smells; this is your world, the haven of your mind. The place where you will draw your mystical strength from. Embrace it."

To the right of her, Poppy's energy was perhaps the strongest of those untrained there. Dani could see the waves of it flowing out of her, swirling around her physical body without her awareness of it. She wondered if it was because she was also a vampire. Her witch's studies had never been too clear on that.

She looked towards the horizon. The sun was almost fully risen. Time was almost come to bring them back to themselves. She would allow them to linger in their own spirit only a little longer.

"As you relax into the spiritual space around you, you know that you will be able to come back here at anytime. But you also know that you must come back to where your physical bodies remain. With one last bask, you will begin to draw back. Back into the swirling mists of color, to the bounds of your mind. Become aware of your physical body once more; where it sits down on the soft, green grass. The heat of the newly arisen sun falls upon one side of your bodies. Feel those bodies. Feel your connection to them again. Stretch your fingers, your toes. Flex your wrists, your neck. And when you are ready, come back."

*

Blaise was sprawled across her bed, alone in the room she shared with Thea and Dani. Although the other witches had been quiet when they had left, Blaise had still shifted into wakefulness before they had left the room. Since, she had been unable to find a satisfactorily comfortable position to fall back to sleep in.

Sitting up moodily, she threw the covers off her as soon as the sun was fully risen and it was clear that she was going to get no more sleep this morning. She started her surprise upon seeing Kestrel standing in the doorway looking at her. Quickly covering it, she adopted her usually sarcastic temperament.

"Come to warn me off your brother again?" she asked, turning away to find her hairbrush before waiting for the lamia vampire to answer.

"I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself," Kestrel said with a smirk, sauntering into the room. "All this space to yourself. I would have thought you would have been doing something more productive with your time."

"You thought wrong," Blaise said, locating her brush and running it through her hair. She stopped. "Did you come here for anything?"

"I think so," Kestrel replied. "How's the adjustment into Circle Daybreak been for you so far?"

Blaise raised a perfectly formed eyebrow.

"Don't tell me that you actually care," she said, going at it with her hairbrush again.

"I might," Kestrel said. "Perhaps not much, but you are a part of the group as a whole. The group can't work together as one if some of us aren't exactly. . . in the game, so to speak."

"You needed worry that I'm going to rat all of you out," Blaise told her. "I wouldn't do that to my cousin."

"Ah, I see. So all of this is for Thea," said Kestrel, in mock wonder.

"Do you have a point?" Blaise asked rudely.

"So hurried. Even this early in the morning with the rest of the day still ahead of you." Kestrel tsked lightly with her tongue. "I suppose it was too much to hope that I would find you in a good mood."

A lightness, mock and other, left the middle lamia sister as though it had never been.

"Look, something's between us. I don't particularly like it and I'm not going to insult either of us by pretending to. But something is definitely there, and I'm not satisfied with just leaving it there unchecked any longer."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Blaise asked. "Are you gone crazy or something?"

Kestrel reached out with her unnatural speed and initiated physical contact between her hand and Blaise's upper arm. Blaise's annoyance turned to surprise, and rather than softness, fear.

"What did you do to me?" she accused, jumping up and away from the contact as though it were a livewire.

Kestrel didn't move from where she stood.

"If any of us did something, it was you. I'm not the witch here. For all I know, maybe it was one of your little magical weavings."

"You said that they didn't work on the lamia," Blaise shot back.

"True. I did say that, didn't I?" Kestrel said, tilting her head to the side.

"Look, just tell me what is going on here, and let that be the end of it," Blaise said, jaw tautened.

"Nah uh, I don't think it will be that simple." Kestrel shook her head. "Are you seriously trying to tell me that living in a house that's filled with soulmates; your own cousin happily hooked up with her own, and you don't get what just happened here?"

"Don't even joke about it," Blaise cut in before Kestrel could go any further.

"Ah, so I see that you do have some idea after all. Good, I couldn't stand to have someone who was without their brain."

"Get out," Blaise said softly.

Kestrel raised her eyebrows.

"Now."

With a small smile on her mouth, Kestrel turned around and left the room. Blaise looked down at her hands. They were shaking.

*


	6. Haunted by a Deadly Passion

"How have the witchcraft sessions been coming along?" Thierry addressed Melusine, Thea and Dani several mornings later.

They smiled at each other and around at the other members of their small group.

"We're getting along nicely, I think," Thea replied.

"Wonderful," Thierry said, sounding genuinely pleased. "It was a good notion to put into place here, Poppy," he added.

Poppy smiled, gladdened by the compliment.

"However, I am forced once again to bring to everyone's attention of another. . . rather strange pairing that has come to our attention," Thierry continued.

Silence came over the table as they waited for Thierry to fill them in.

"It seems that a rather well known among some circles human vampire killer has been found by her Night World soulmate." Thierry paused for effect. "He is Quinn."

Ash almost choked on the blood he had had up to his lips. James' eyes widened as though he could barely believe what he had just heard. Jade turned to her sisters and mouthed 'Quinn?'

Only the newer comers to Circle Daybreak seemed genuinely unaware of the significance of this pairing.

"Who's Quinn?" David asked blankly.

"One of the more deadly made vampires within the Night World," Ash answered. "Even worse than. . . in some ways, much worse than even I used to be."

"He has a human soulmate?" Rowan asked incredulously. "Are we sure it is that Quinn?"

"Quite sure," Thierry answered. "And I'm also sure that this is another one of those cases where Circle Daybreak members are going to be needed on the scene."

"Well, I can't be seen there," Ash said, surprising everyone at the table at first. He was usually the one to jump at all new projects that came to Circle Daybreak. "He knows me. Anybody he hangs around will be able to recognize me. I can't do any good in this."

"Ash is right," Thierry agreed. "And for the same reason, none of the lamia will be able to go on this mission, or for that matter, myself. And as this is far too dangerous a situation for humans, the only other options we have left to us are witches."

At once, Thea realized the reason why Thierry had asked about the witchcraft sessions this morning in particular.

"Have you. . ." She stopped to clear her throat. "Have you anybody in mind as of yet?"

"I do," Thierry said. "I thought that you and Blaise might be best to oversee this situation. And, if you think her ready, Gillian as a third powerful Harman descendant may be quite helpful to your cause."

"Count me in," Blaise said quickly, without looking at anyone, least of all her cousin.

Thea blinked her surprise at Blaise's willingness, but getting over that, she remembered that Thierry's question still hung over her as well.

"Oh. Of course. I will go as well," Thea said, still sort of put off. "And, um, Gillian. . ." She looked at the eager young witch who appeared to be silently pleading to her with her eyes. "I think that she will be ready to go. When?"

"We can't leave this too long, I fear," said Thierry. "As soon as you three can find yourselves ready, I will arrange a car to take you on your way. Nilsson, is there any among your employ..?"

"I think I could have someone in mind," Nilsson murmured.

"It is set then," Thierry decided. "As soon as you can manage. This one could be potentially most harmful. I think that what Quinn is currently involved in might go much higher than just him. If something happens to Rashel though this, well, we could all too easily lose both of them."

*

Fayth glanced around at the Circle Daybreak members, people, witches and vampires who had become so much a part of her life and friendship group in such a short amount of time. It was amazing to her still. She could not quite get her head around the idea of such dire danger as her witch friend had described to her before she had left. There was none of that to be seen here. Even the other humans here, if you overlooked the forlorn expressions ever present on Eric and David's faces with the continued absences of their soulmates witches, were in high spirits, all of the time.

No, she just couldn't see how this thing that Thea, Blaise and Gillian had been sent to soothe could be such drama. Mark was a human and everything was great between him and Jade.

Slowly an idea started to form into her mind. She was Circle Daybreak, wasn't she? And solving this type of thing was what Circle Daybreakers were supposed to do. Maybe they had approached this wrongly, sending witches off when it was something that primarily concerned humans within the Night World. And she had enough experience both with her own life and watching the lives of others to be a real help. Wouldn't Thierry and the others be proud of her when she came back from the mission successful? She might even be able to bring in a few new recruits if she was lucky. Yes, that was what she would do.

She planned the idea in her mind for a while before she put it into action. It would be best, she decided, if she just stole away in the dead of night. Otherwise there might be the awkward questions of why she should go when she'd been here the shortest time and any answer to that would only sound conceited. For everyone concerned, she would probably do best by leaving them a note to find later.

Lucky it was that she did not share her room with anybody at the moment and so didn't have to worry about waking anyone up. All she did after packing her bag and dressed in dark clothes ready to set off was leave a white note that was bright in the darkness for them to find in the morning when they looked for her.

It was best this way.

*

'Don't worry. I'm not in any danger. I've gone to Boston to try and help in this Rashel and Quinn situation. I know what I'm doing. We will see you all soon when we get back again. Thanks for everything you've done for me so far; I know you'll understand.'

"It's signed 'Fayth'," Melusine said, holding the sheet of paper up in front of Thierry. She had walked in to find Thierry and Lupe deep in some sort of serious discussion that had come to an abrupt end at her entrance. As she had begun talking, Lupe had glanced across to the Circle Daybreak head and left the room.

"I found it in her bedroom this morning after she didn't show for the witchcraft session this morning. I asked James and Ash who were in the next room along from her, but they didn't hear anything when she must have left."

James and Ash who were also standing solemnly in the room nodded their agreement to this fact. Thierry took the sheet from Melusine's fingers and read it slowly for himself. Worry lines began to crease his otherwise perfect features.

"We've got to let Thea, Blaise and Gillian know about this," he muttered.

"Already done. Dani and I worked through that just after we found this out." She shrugged. "We thought it best that no time be wasted."

"Indeed." He handed the paper back to Melusine. "Well then, there's no hope for it. We must make arrangements for some of us to go after her."

Melusine nodded her head and quietly left the room. Ash and James remained.

"I thought you decided it wasn't safe for too many of us to be seen there," Ash questioned.

"It's not safe for Fayth to be there in the first place," Thierry said, looking at Ash. "Unfortunately, general safety can't stay first on our priority list any longer. We need to find Fayth and worry about her safety. Besides, it's hardly like we're going to be announcing our presence. Only the right people will even be aware of us being there."

"You keep on saying us as though. . ." Ash started, before Thierry raised a significant eyebrow towards him.

"As though you're in on this mission? Because you are. Both of you are. You think I haven't noticed the way you've been withdrawing further into yourself since this whole thing started? As of now, the three of us are to get ready for this battle. Since the last time I spoke to you all, I've heard of some things that are even worse than we originally thought. The lamia are not going to be pleased about this."

*

"Stupid idiot," Blaise muttered. "Look at her! Not only does she set off without letting Thierry or any of the others know, but she goes and gets caught in the bargain. We can't even go and do anything about it without getting caught ourselves. Stupid!"

"I'm sure she didn't mean to get caught," Gillian murmured. Her eyes were wide and scared. "What do you think they're going to do to those girls?"

"Thierry said that it was some kind of slave trade that someone is bringing back," Thea answered while Blaise was still seething. "It's been illegal in the Night World for ages. Certainly longer than I've been alive. But now somebody is trying to start it up again."

A girl appeared suddenly to fall or be thrown out of the truck that the girls had been loaded into. It wasn't Fayth, but whoever it was was running for their life. . . and into another girl.

"That's. . . is that Rashel?" Thea asked Blaise. Though it was dark, there was a certain way about the girl that jumped out to Thea, even down to the way that she was helping the blonde girl away, all without the vampires quite realising what was going on there.

Blaise nodded slowly, but inside she was still incensed.

"How could she? What did she think she was doing? Was she trying to be smart? Get them off their guard? I mean, why would somebody go and do something like that?" she continued a little time later.

The moments of most extreme danger were out of the way. The truck and the vampires and girls was long gone. Thea stood up to stretch her legs and looked down in curiosity at her cousin.

"Somehow why do I get the sense that you are not talking about Fayth any longer? Is there something going on with you that I don't know about?" Thea questioned.

"Something going on?" Blaise scoffed, also getting up. "Of course not! Why would there be something going on?"

"Uh guys, are we just going to keep standing here arguing, or should we try to get to some shelter and figure out what we are going to do from here? If that really was Rashel, and one of those vampires was Quinn, we've got a lot of trouble to be sorted out on our hands." Gillian paled beside the beauty of the other sister witches, but in some individual way, she stood out in her own right. She was becoming more assertive in her power the longer that she was in their company and knowledge of her heritage.

Thea hesitated for a moment before relenting, but she cast Blaise one last meaningful glance first.

"Don't think we won't talk this out later," she warned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Blaise answered icily, before they set off back to the hotel room that they'd rented out for their stay here.

*

Thierry, James and Ash got into contact with the three witches as soon as they drove into Boston a few days later. Thea filled them all in on the events of the days as they'd watched it and insisted that they hadn't stepped in on anything, as had been ordered, before they'd arrived.

Rashel and Quinn had come into contact with each other. In fact, Quinn had managed to get captured by Rashel's group of vampire hunters before for some reason, she had let him loose again. Blaise rejoined by letting them know not to assume any personal closeness at hand as the very next night, Rashel and the blonde girl she had previously saved had been captured, willingly they supposed, by Quinn's group of vampires, and he had not let her go.

"Typical," Ash muttered derogatively, before shutting up to let the girls continue their story.

And all of this had happened after the night that Fayth had gotten herself captured by the very same group.

Thierry went silent, although it was obvious from his stance that he was thinking and his mood was less than great. In the end, their decision was to go to the docks the next night and see what they could find out from there.

The night after was interesting. From what the six Daybreakers could tell, the slave traders, if that was indeed what they were, had stopped rounding up girls to send off here. Either that or they already had enough, James had pointed out. After a while of searching and coming up with nothing, the small group had believed the night to be a bust, until Gillian had pointed out to sea at two boats holding several young girls aboard each sailing unmistakably towards them.

"Should we back away until we are sure they come with good intent?" Thea asked.

"No, they are fine," Thierry said. "Shaken up though from the looks of them. They will need as much support as we can give them once they reach us."

"Hey, isn't that Fayth in that one?" James asked, pointing.

Minutes later, James, Blaise, Thea and Gillian were rounding up and comforting the girls who had made it back from the island they had been sent to. More than one of them were piping up about something to do with 'Shelly' and Nyala, but making very little sense overall. Thierry and Ash were standing either side of Fayth.

"That was very dangerous what you did. Do you know how many people could have been hurt in this?" Thierry asked, though keeping his voice relatively mild.

"I helped save the girls," Fayth pointed out. "I helped from the inside. No offence to the witches you sent, but they couldn't have known what was going on inside of this. It wasn't just slave trade, Thierry. This was set to be a blood fest. Three girls for every vampire there. Eight very powerful, and I'm guessing mightily pissed off made vampires now that their three course meal has just fled."

"A blood fest," Ash said, looking sharply up at Thierry. "Between a group of made vampires. . . This could be war between the made vampires and the lamia."

Thierry gritted his teeth and nodded once.

"Yes, I know," he answered. "Fayth, while I congratulate you on your information, it was still very reckless the way you went about getting it."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Fayth admitted. "But Shelly, I mean, Rashel. . ."

"Where's Rashel?" Thea asked, suddenly walking up behind them. "She's not among this group."

Thierry and Ash's looks were joined by Blaise's in silent questioning.

"I. . . uh, she made us leave without her. Told us to stay away, that she had to fix this up herself," Fayth murmured. "I had to think of the girls. . ."

Over the top of her last words, an explosion erupted from across the sea. Bright fire lighted up the sky and gas made the very air shimmer. On this side of the land, many assembled there fancied that they felt the wave of heat hit them.

"Rashel," Fayth whispered.

Thierry was grim, watching carefully out towards the island that was plainly lit for all to see. He was already wondering how many of the made vampires had made it out of there alive and would right now be making plans to set the same little number up again in some later date.

"We should take these girls back to some safe house," Thea said, breaking the silence after a moment or so had passed. "They need help, and since we can't do much more good here. . ."

"We lost them," Ash muttered. "So, the soulmate principle doesn't counter everything after all."

James shifted his gaze from the water to his cousin, knowing that the older vampire was thinking about Mary-Lynette. In that one moment, he actually felt sorry for Ash. He'd been trying so hard. He'd never known for Ash to try this hard over anything before.

"Wait! Look, what is that?" Fayth said, suddenly animated again, all but jumping up and down in her nervous eagerness.

The tall sail of a yacht were becoming clearly apparent through the dense clouds of smoke that was rolling over the water. Thierry took a look to see what the fuss was about.

"Hunter Redfern's yacht," he uttered tiredly. "I don't think we are enough of a force to go up against him right now. We should clear out of here quickly before he realizes that we were here. Thea's right, we can do no more good here."

"But that's not Hunter in the boat," Ash cut in suddenly. "It's a vampire, certainly. A little boy vampire as well. And. . . two girls. . ."

"That's Rashel," Fayth said. "Which means that that must be Quinn in there with her. And Nyala. I don't know who the little boy is though."

They came into the coast, where Fayth, Thea, Thierry, Ash, James and some of the girls who had gotten away from Gillian and Blaise were waiting eagerly for them. Some shied away a little when the got a good glimpse of the little boy and the larger vampire who was holding him back.

"Rashel, you're okay," Fayth said, stepping forward to her.

"It certainly appears that way," she answered, looking up towards her soulmate with a loving smile, before realising that they were not there alone. "Hey, who are all these people?"

"Rashel, this is Thierry, Ash, Thea and James; some of the other 'damned Daybreakers'," Fayth answered her with a hint of a smile.

"Oh," Rashel muttered, sucking in her lips. "Knew I should never have made that comment."

"Ash," Quinn addressed formerly from behind his soulmate and with a nod of his head. "Didn't expect to find you here."

"Maybe you should have," Ash answered. "I'm sure rumor has gotten around."

"That it has," Quinn agreed. "Seems I should make an apology to you and yours. Maybe that rumor's about to be added to."

"Welcome to the club then," Ash said, but without any open sign of welcome.

Quinn nodded again, for once in complete understanding with the other vampire.

"We'd like that," Rashel murmured. "Make for a nice break to be accepted for a while."

"Let's go then," Thierry decided, arms outspread and all encompassing. "Back to Circle Daybreak."

*

"We've still got to talk," Thea reminded Blaise on the way back to Los Angeles from Boston.

"I don't know why you always insist on talking things out. It never helps," Blaise responded grudgingly.

"Come on, Blaise. We've always been able to be open with each other before." Thea put her hand over Blaise's. "Even when we haven't seen eye to eye."

"Wasn't that way when you found Eric," Blaise muttered. "It was all about him, saving him and keeping him alive then, wasn't it?"

"Is that what this is about?" Thea asked in confusion. "That I've found my soulmate and you haven't?"

Blaise laughed, but it was without joy.

"If only it was that," she said without looking at Thea. "Don't worry, Thea. This has nothing whatsoever to do with you and Eric."

"What then?" Thea asked, deliberately ignoring the slur Blaise had placed on her soulmate's name. "Please tell me."

"You really want to know?" Blaise asked turning suddenly to face her. "Fine. Kestrel Redfern is my soulmate."

*


	7. Deadly Vampire, or Avenging Angel?

"I've found her. This time I'm sure. Her name is Hannah."

All of the breath seemed to leave Thierry's non-beating heart in a rushed instant. That he had been called away from the large meals table and was now sitting in his office with Lupe in front of him seemed unimportant. The world seemed unimportant. She was back. She was the only thing still relevant in his world.

"Thierry, are you alright, sir?" Lupe asked, tilting her all too canine looking head and gazing at him with worry.

"Yes, Lupe. I'm. . ." He drifted off again, his mind awash with memories and visions of his Old Soul, human soulmate.

"Where? Where is she now? I must go to her."

*

"So. You're back."

Kestrel was leaning lazily against the doorway, gazing with half closed eyelids at Blaise. Blaise didn't even need to look up at her to know that it was all just a pose.

"I am." The witch did not pause in the lacing up of her black boots.

"What happened, then? I heard that Thierry was pretty incensed about whatever you guys found out down there, but with Lupe calling him away last night before he had a chance to fill the rest of us in. . ."

Now Blaise did look up at the young lamia vampire.

"If you're so interested, why don't you go over to your brother and cousin? They were there too, or did you already forget that?" she asked with flashing eyes.

Kestrel just smiled, a slow and predatory movement of her lips that creased the very corners of her eyes and changed the whole expression of her features.

"A little tense, are we?" Kestrel asked, stepping into the room. "Surely I'm not the one making you so uncomfortable?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Blaise hissed. All the same, she stepped away when Kestrel came close.

"I know you told Thea, you know," Kestrel said, deliberately stopping in her pursuit and watching Blaise carefully for her reaction. "You wouldn't have done that if you hadn't believed."

"How do you know anything about Thea?" Blaise asked.

"I know when someone is trying to hide the fact that they know something," Kestrel said. "Maybe it's from watching you so much ever since you got back here."

Blaise paused. Her jaw stiffened and she stared hard at the ground.

"Then maybe you had better stop watching me," Blaise said firmly, every word properly enunciated. Then, still without looking at her soulmate, she stood up and left her bedroom.

*

"This is Timmy," Rashel introduced, holding him firmly by the shoulders, at the same time as hating the fact that such a resort was necessary.

Poppy, now happily reunited with her own soulmate, had James' arms wrapped around her from behind. Looking pityingly upon the other made vampire, she knew he would always look the age of a four year old human child with eyes much older and disillusioned. She attempted to go forward and reach him on some level.

"Hello there, Timmy. How are you?" she asked in her most soothing voice, trying not to speak down to the boy she realized was in actual fact quite close to her own age.

"How would you be if you had been ripped away from everything you knew to be right?" Timmy asked bitterly. Then, looking up significantly at his elder sister Rashel, added pointedly, "Twice."

Rashel looked as though something inside of her had been torn out. Poppy's heart reached out for her as well. It was a truly terrible situation to have been forced on these two. She could only find comfort in the thought that it had never come to such where her brother Phil was concerned. She didn't know what she would have done if it had.

She met Rashel's eyes, and something passed between the two of them.

"Come with me," Poppy offered. "Let me introduce you to some of the others here. James can keep an eye on Timmy for a while, can't you?"

"Of course," James murmured, before Timmy's eyes fixed hard on James'.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" he asked, without the slightest trace of warm curiosity.

"One of. . . them?" James asked blankly.

"The lamia. Witch-vampires," Timmy summed up, as though it explained everything.

James just looked towards Rashel for advice, but she too was staring at Timmy in confusion.

"Oh, Hunter told me all about you. You age, and make others who never will. You can live like vermin, act like them, but you never will be them. You're dirty. That's what Hunter says. And we'll overthrow you all."

"Okay then, I think that's just about enough excitement for today," a new male voice cut in suddenly. Rashel looked up gratefully when she saw that it was Quinn. "Now, what's all this about what Hunter says? I'll have you know that not everything that man says is exactly true."

Timmy looked up at Quinn, and his expression turn scathing.

"You were one of his favorites. His heir. You shouldn't speak of him like that," he told the older vampire harshly.

"And you shouldn't speak like that to people who only wish to be your friends and help you," Quinn retaliated. "Especially when one of them is your sister."

"She never cared about that before," Timmy said, turning sulky.

"That's not true," Rashel began, but it became obvious that the short vampire was not listening to a word that was being said to him.

"Maybe we should leave him be for a while," James suggested quietly. "Take him to a new bedroom. I really don't think he should be sharing with anybody right now."

"Has anybody shown you to a bedroom?" Poppy asked Rashel, who only shook her head silently. "Come on then, we'll do that now."

After Rashel had been placed in a room with Fayth, James led Quinn to the bedroom that he shared with Ash.

"There's been a spare bed in here since we got here. You may as well make use of it," James offered as Quinn put down his belongings.

"Thanks," Quinn muttered, his mind still on what Timmy had said about Hunter. He turned to look James seriously in the eye. "You know, if what Timmy said was true, we've got a lot of trouble coming on our hands from Hunter."

"That's if he survived the fire blast," James quipped.

Quinn just raised an eyebrow. James visibly acceded that the made vampire had a point.

"Alright, he survived. And we've got some trouble on our hands." James paused as he looked towards the doorway of the bedroom then murmured absently, "Hopefully not before Thierry gets back though."

Quinn turned towards the doorway where James was looking and caught Ash's bottomless eyes staring into him.

"What's he doing in here?" Ash asked James, while at the same time, not taking his eyes off of Quinn.

"He's living here now," James answered, not backing down an inch.

"The hell he is," Ash stormed in a deadly quiet tone.

"Accept it or not. Your choice. I'm going down to see Poppy," James said decisively, before leaving to allow his cousin and Quinn to fight it out, or not, as they each wished.

*

"Did you hear; Maya's back."

"Maya?"

"Who's that?"

"First Hunter, now Maya?"

"Heard say that she's the reason Thierry keeps on losing his soulmate."

"How do you mean, keeps on losing?"

"Old Soul."

"What's an Old Soul?"

"Human who keeps coming back."

"Seems they're not so ordinary as everyone used to think."

"Soulmate principle isn't the only prophecy that's been uncovered either!"

"Something about a. . . Wild Power?"

As the days passed without Thierry present, speculation and rumor spread through the walls of Circle Daybreak like a fire. Tensions remained high among many of the group members as missions were put on hold while Thierry continued in his pursuit of his soulmate.

Then came the day when she arrived. In person, knowledgeable of the Night World and its people. Everything seemed to come to a head.

"Hi. My name is Hannah."

*

"Everyone. There is much it seems that I have not had sufficient time to fill you all in on," Thierry said on a heavy breath to the rather large group sitting around him. Grandma Harman had also made herself available for this special Circle Daybreak meeting, as had another obviously powerful Night Person, to whom Lupe had given reverence towards, though few others seemed to recognize him.

"It has been discovered, among other things, that the Night World Council is now officially aware that Circle Daybreak is back in operation." Thierry paused at the gasps and wide-eyed expressions that spread around the table. He attempted to speak over them all, using his own words to calm down the mood. "We all knew that this would happen eventually. We could have hardly expected to be able to keep down a secret of this magnitude for very much longer. However, it has come at a terrible time for us and the human world as a whole."

Hannah was at Thierry's side, holding his hand as though she would never let go, not surprising since this was the first time in all of their lives together that she was safe with her love and her soulmate and Maya was finally no more. They had doubled back to pick up Hannah's friend Chess who was now in the same room as Rashel and Fayth and was another human Old Soul, and on the way back, passing through California, had come by a third Old Soul by the name of Hugh who had also wished to join them.

Other than that, it was the old group that was sitting around, listening attentively to Thierry's every word. Thierry turned to Grandma Harman, and it was she who beheld the group at large and addressed them in clear tones, speaking a passage that was clearly memorized by heart.

"On a night when came from Night World three, "Together were they to guard of free;

"One from the land of kings long forgotten; "One from the hearth which still holds the spark; "One from the Day World where two eyes are watching; "One from the twilight to be one with the dark;

"From hence will come Wild Powers four, "And the worlds be changed forevermore."

Grandma Harman gazed carefully at each and every Daybreaker as though seeing directly into their very souls as they waited for her next words to explain the passage that she had just shared with them.

"It was myself, Thierry and Drache who came together on that long ago eve," Grandma Harman began. "One representative of the witches, one of the vampires, one of the shapeshifters."

Gazes from those around the table turned across to the one they had previously not recognized; Drache, Senior Head of the First House of the shapeshifters.

"It was in a time where havoc was being caused due to the fears of humans and their too great a knowledge of our people. Something had to be done about it, we all agreed upon that, and this was what was traded upon," Grandma Harman continued. "An alliance between the races within the Night World, as you all know, but as well, something much bigger. Something, however, that would take much longer in coming about."

"As human and Night People alike are aware, the millennium is coming upon us," Drache came in with. "And as well as being a great celebration date, it is also a time of great power that runs back to all of our roots; human, Old Soul, lamia, made vampire, werewolf, shifter, witch or lost witch all alike. We think that it is this indistinguishing power that is causing the soulmates of Night People to more and more often be as humans."

"Also," Thierry came back for the finish. "It means that the time when the alliance that kept the differing races within the Night World together is passing. Hunter Redfern's recent moves have just confirmed that. And now we have reason to believe that these four. . . Wild Powers will hold the key to the new alliance, which shall perhaps be one between Night People and humans together for the first time in all of our histories."

Amazement and excitement spread around the table as everyone there appeared suddenly to have something of great importance to share with everyone else. The very idea was amazing, and how come even those here who had lived in and grown up within the Night World had never heard anything of this prophecy, if indeed that was what it was.

"You must all understand," Theirry continued, bringing the calamitous talk and speculation to order once more, "That this only increases the importance of these projects that we undertake. Anyone of them could be a potential Wild Power, and until we find more of a way to narrow down the search, we much take on every odd occurrence that we get wind of as potential. We must not let any of these Wild Powers fall into the hands of the other side before ours. Now that the Council are aware of us, as well as Hunter's groups, we are going to have the battle of our lives to succeed in our endeavors."

" 'One from the hearth which still holds the spark. . .'" Thea mused aloud to herself. "But, that must be a lost witch. It could be. . ." Thea turned to Poppy, Phil and Gillian at once. "It could be any one of you even!"

Grandma Harman smiled indulgently.

"It very well could have been," she replied gently. "However, these Wild Powers have significant powers that we have just not seen in the months that Poppy, Phil and Gillian have been here with us." She smiled almost sadly at the three lost witches.

"But, it still could be a lost witch, right?" Thea persisted. "Even if it is not them. And it might still be one of them; they just don't yet know how to access that part of their powers."

"It could be," Grandma Harman allowed. "Although if it is a lost witch, it is more likely that she, or he, is not already within the immediate reach of Circle Daybreak. We must look out further than ourselves in this one."

" 'One from the Day World were two eyes are watching,'" Ash added in his quietly mild tone. "That one must be a human." He didn't go so far as to assume it must be Eric, David or Fayth. However, when his eyes rested on Mark and, thinking for a moment of Mary-Lynette as he so often did, they slowed slightly although still he said nothing more.

"I have dreamed of one of the Wild Powers," Grandma Harman announced. "And have reason to believe that they are currently within Californian borders."

She glanced briefly at Hugh, who looked down at the table thoughtfully.

"I have a few Night World contacts in that area," he murmured in the considering tones that seemed to be consistent with all awakened Old Souls. "I could go for a few days and see them out?"

"That would be welcomed," Grandma Harman replied with a small smile. There was little to smile at with the seriousness of the times they were about to face.

"Everything is a possibility, and while it is a good idea to look into these possibilities certainly, we cannot find ourselves limited by them," Thierry reminded all of them cautiously. "As well, right now, the best thing we can ensure for ourselves is that we are each well rested for the times about to come. Let me assure you they are set to be greatly tiring on us all."

*

Timmy was getting on everybody's nerves. Just now at this time when every moment was critical, he was constantly getting in the way and trying to undermine everything that everyone else was working at during any given time. Even Rashel could see what was becoming a swiftly larger and larger problem, though sibling loyalty heaped even higher after what she saw as her failure in the first place, was blinding her to what needed to be done about it.

"Quinn, man, you're going to have to say something to her," Eric was saying to him. "This morning he came in part way through our meditations. Do you know how much that almost stuffed up David's train? And just when he's starting to get it too. If I didn't know better, I would think he was getting thoughts from Hunter on exactly what to do to get us off our game right now, while he's free to pick up the first Wild Power."

Quinn rubbed his forehead with two fingers, knowing that what the human was saying to him was what everyone, including him, was thinking around here. But how the hell was he supposed to say anything? He was her soulmate. And people around here thought that should make it easier? People around here ought to know better, was what he thought!

"Look, I'll have a word with her, but. . ." he started, but was interrupted by the little bundle of disruption himself.

"Have a word with who?" Timmy asked, coming out of the shadows were he so often lingered. "Does Rashel know that her soulmate and fellow Daybreaker are co-conspiring about her behind her back? Don't think that would make her very happy to know about it, do you?"

"You keep quiet, you little snot," Quinn told him in no uncertain terms. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Oh, but I think it does," Timmy said smartly. "I think your worries about me and my contacts outside of these walls have everything to do with me. Why so silent, human?" he asked suddenly, his eyes flashing across to Eric who had stayed silent ever since the tiny vampire had shown himself.

"Nothing to say," he answered, adding pointedly, "To you."

"So unfriendly. Exactly the opposite to what Thierry wants for us all. The happy family made vampire. It's almost funny, you know?" Timmy started laughing in an off beat, eerie way that only he could manage to contrive. Both Quinn and Eric winced at the sound of it.

Then Rashel came into the room.

"Oh, I thought I heard you in here," she murmured to her little brother, or rather, the insane minion that had taken over his body when Hunter had drunk from it all those years ago.

She sidled up to Quinn, giving him a peck on the cheek with a tired smile that she always wore when Timmy was around these days.

"And what have you been up to then?" she asked him, striving for a brightness that she didn't feel.

"Just having an interesting conversation with a couple of your friends, actually," Timmy said in a parody of sweetness. "Wanna hear what I heard?"

"Rashel, why don't we go back up to your room? I saw Fayth and Chess going off somewhere with Hannah a little while ago. We should get your room to ourselves for a little while if we go now," Quinn said suggestively, a light hand over her arm.

Rashel smiled up at him, the first genuine smile she'd given anyone since she'd walked into that room.

"Sure. I'd like that," she answered. "You going to be okay in here without us, Timmy?" she asked, turning to face him as Quinn started leading her out.

"Just fine," Timmy answered with a snide smile.

*

"Doesn't it just thrill you, the idea of another lost Harman witch somewhere out there? A Wild Power witch," Thea said, her eyes shining at the thought.

"Personally, I think that there are too many of us as it is," Blaise answered sourly, pulling apart the differing threads in a piece of string. She looked up at Gillian who was learning from Thea the art of weaving magic into her threads. "Not that I have a problem with you of course," she added falsely sweet.

"Of course," Gillian replied, her tone revealing that she knew all too well Blaise's true meaning.

"Come on, Gill. I've taught you heaps of times, you have to really concentrate if you want to get this right," Thea instructed, her mind going back to her teachings instead of the Wild Powers that they had been told of the night before.

All three witches looked up at the clearing of someone's throat in the doorway. Blaise rolled her eyes and went back to picking at her thread. Thea looked vaguely uncomfortable and went back to focusing on Gillian's thread, while Gillian looked a mixture of confused and intrigued.

"Blaise, can I talk to you a moment?" Kestrel asked.

With a loud sigh, Blaise deliberately put down her things and walked over to the vampire, conscious of the other two witches' gazes on her back.

"What do you want?" she asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Not this," was Kestrel's answer. "I want you to tell me truthful. Tell me that you don't want this, and I'll walk away."

As Kestrel said 'this', she wrapped a slender hand around Blaise's wrist and held on while the mind link opened up and the warm fuzziness invaded the corners of both of their minds and hearts. Blaise took deep breaths, unused to such closeness and still uncomfortable in it.

Abruptly, and before any thoughts could be sent either way, Kestrel let go again.

"I'll just walk away," she reiterated, waiting a moment for her words to sink through, before turning and leaving Blaise to think on what she really wanted in this.

Moments later, her cheeks still flushed and breathing a little erratically, Blaise reentered the room, only to fiddle around a bit before announcing that she had better things that needed doing outside on so fine a day as this one.

*


	8. Even Soulmates Can Be Deadly

"Not a human." The words were disclosed dispassionately by Blaise. "The Californian Wild Power's just been found. Her name is Jez Redfern."

"Her soulmate Morgead was brought here, as well as a couple of others; her cousin Claire, and," Hugh smiled disparagingly, "Another Old Soul called Iona."

"Another one?" Rowan asked with an incredulous smile. "At this rate, you're going to be well outnumbering the rest of us. And I thought that the main number was going to be made up of made and lamia vampires!"

"Quinn and Rashel have already set off after Lily Redfern, Azarius and Pierce Holt, one of the gang Morgead and Jez used to head," Fayth added at the general look of confusion by the others lounging in the room with her. "Jez was in a pretty bad way when they brought her back. She's only just started regenerating herself again. Being only half vampire and all."

Fayth, Rowan, Hugh, Chess, Blaise and Thea were sitting around together talking over this first Wild Power and what the finding of her would mean to everyone here.

"I still can't believe it. I didn't know that it was possible to have a half vampire, half human hybrid," Rowan murmured. "Did you know that she hasn't been using her vampire powers for over a year now?"

The way she said it, sounded as though she were scandalized by the very thought. Fayth and Chess caught each other's eyes with a smile of mutual understanding. Even for vampire's with human soulmates, they could never quite understand how the different kinds functioned without certain abilities that they took for granted.

"So when do we get to meet her?" Thea asked, looking at Hugh as though he should have the answer. After all, he had been one of the ones to bring her here from California.

"When she's ready, I should assume," Hugh surmised. "You must think of what an overwhelming force the group of you make. Especially when it's a Wild Power coming to meet you all for the first time."

Thea had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. Fayth grinned and Blaise looked bored.

"Well, while this has all been very interesting," she began, making to stand up and leaving her sentence open as she headed for the outside door.

It wasn't long after that she heard someone calling her name from behind her. When she ignored it, knowing exactly who she would find calling her, the voice came again, this time inside of her head. Sighing heavily, Blaise turned around to face Kestrel's older sister.

"What is it, Rowan?" she asked tiredly.

"Look, I've heard things between you and Kestrel," the lamia vampire began.

"Great to know that she's been talking over her problems with everyone," Blaise muttered.

"Not everyone, Blaise," Rowan said, attempting to soothe the witch. "Is it true, what she says? Are you and Kestrel. . . soulmates?"

Blaise tried to come up with a scathing remark that would properly shut the eldest Redfern sister up on the subject for good. However, looking into the older girl's eyes, Blaise couldn't find it within herself to come out with any of her usual style retorts.

"I don't know what to think anymore," Blaise said in resignation. "That's what Kestrel thinks. It could be true, I suppose," she ended weakly.

"But if you are. . ." Rowan drifted off as though she couldn't believe Blaise's stance on the subject. "I mean, you're here. There is no reason for the two of you not to be together here. And even so, it's not even like either of you are human. Why do you fight against it?"

"Rowan, I don't mean it personally but, it's none of your business. Do you think you might stay out of it and leave me and Kestrel to deal with it ourselves?" Blaise asked, going for her usual harshness of tone and failing. Rowan was able to see past it anyway.

"Will you?" Rowan questioned. Blaise just raised her eyebrows. "Will you leave yourself and Kestrel to deal with it yourselves?"

"Fine," Blaise burst out. "If it will keep you off my back about it. Do you think I could go on a walk now, by myself?"

Rowan held her hands up in surrender. Blaise just looked at her once more before turning on her heel and setting off, trying to set the vampire's line of questioning firmly from her mind.

*

Quinn and Rashel were stalking along a trail that a vampire of Lily Redfern's description had last reported to be seen. They had been following it for days now, starting in California, but as of yet, nothing.

"I think you've lost your edge, honey," Rashel murmured, using the endearment specifically to get at her soulmate.

"Shh," Quinn hissed, but Rashel could tell by the narrowing of his eyes that he had not missed her quiet jibe. Minutes later, her turned back to face her. "There's nothing around here that we're going to find tonight."

There was a distinct shuffling sound, followed by an 'oomph', by which time both Quinn and Rashel were firmly on guard stances. However, the short female vampire that faced them looked neither dangerous or about to attack, and slowly, Rashel let lax some of her defenses.

"I think your girl here is right," the vampire quipped. "If you thought there was nothing around here, you have lost your edge. That is, if you had one before."

She tilted her head to the side considering as she peered at the vampire and vampire hunter respectively.

"You neither of you are from around here, are you?" she questioned with curiosity.

Rashel was about to shake her head 'no' when Quinn put a sharp hand on her arm to stop her.

"Who are you to ask that of us anyway?" Quinn asked with measured hostility.

The girl vampire raised her eyebrows slightly towards Rashel who answered with a small smile.

"Leave off, Quinn. I think she's fine," Rashel appealed for the vampire's sake. Then, looking at her more closely, she asked wonderingly, "Say, you wouldn't be one of Morgead and Jez's gang, would you?"

As soon as the first Wild Power and her soulmate's names were mentioned, a visible change lightened all over the female vampire's face.

"You know Jez and Morgead?" the vampire asked, stunned.

Rashel gave another small smile.

"They're with us at the moment," she answered. "It was from them that we were told there was some trouble over this area."

"Lily Redfern and her lot," the vampire replied with a nod. "Ever since all that stuff about the Wild Powers erupted around here there's been no end of troubles."

Rashel kept her mouth shut then. Even she decided that it would be too much to reveal that in actual fact, it was Jez who was one of the Wild Powers. It was all too obvious that this member of her old gang was still in the dark over that little bit of information. She looked briefly across to Quinn to see what his next line of questioning would be.

"This is Rashel, and I'm Quinn," he rejoined, apparently deciding on another, more friendly line of questioning this time. "If you were a member of Jez and Morgead's gang, surely you won't mind telling us of your name?"

The girl vampire looked with hesitancy towards Rashel for a moment, obviously judging their trustworthiness. They must have passed some internal test, for a moment later, the vampire was looking at Quinn again, all expression of evasion wiped clear from her face.

"Raven Mandril," she replied. "And the gang doesn't exist anymore. Not since Pierce betrayed us with Lily." She spat the name out with hatred.

Now it was Quinn's turn to look towards Rashel a moment, before offering, "Well, we're going after her and hers right now. You're welcome to come and give us whatever help you're able if you want to?"

"Circle Daybreak, isn't it?" Raven asked, once again surprising both of them. "Oh, it's okay, Morgead told us about it, asked if we wanted to go with him and Jez. I don't know about the others, they didn't seem to keen about it, but me. . . as long as we're going against Lily, I ain't got no problems against it."

Rashel shrugged at the expression on Quinn's face at Morgead's evident openness.

"It's not as if the Council and everyone don't already know about us," she murmured. "We're hardly the big secret anymore. Besides, it makes it easier now that she knows what she's getting into from the start." Rashel glanced back towards Raven with a friendly expression. "We'd be happy to have you along with us."

*

Timmy was missing. James and Poppy had been searching around the mansion and its grounds for hours. As time moved on, they grew more and more frantic about what his disappearance might mean.

"Poppy, what's the matter? You've been running around every time I've seen you today as though you'd lost something," Gillian said with worry.

"Timmy," Poppy answered. "It's Timmy that's lost. And with Rashel and Quinn away. . ."

Poppy didn't need to go on. Gillian already knew how serious this could be.

"Come on, let me get David and we'll help you look for him," Gillian offered without hesitation.

"Thanks," Poppy murmured, before setting off anew as though a new sweep of the grounds might find something that had in other times escaped her notice.

*

"Timmy's missing?" Jade questioned, worrying her lower lip when Gillian found herself, Mark and David all in the boy's room.

"That's right. And we need to find him and get him back here. Soon as possible," Gillian emphasized.

"Looks like that's our quiet afternoon finished for the day," Mark decided, making a big effort out of getting up until Jade took his hand in hers and let him after her. The four of them split into two search groups.

*

"Any luck in finding the kid?" Ash asked, coming upon James after news had all but spread across the whole of the Circle Daybreak mansion.

"Not yet," James answered tersely.

"How long have you been searching so far?" Ash asked, falling into step with his cousin.

"Hours?" James said. "I don't know. I haven't really been keeping track. At first, I really thought it would only be a matter of moments until we flushed him out of his immature hiding place."

"Don't think it's just a hiding place he's gone to now," Ash put in. "We might have to start thinking of other possibilities."

"I know." All the same, James thought, he didn't want to be the one who reported to Thierry about it.

"I guess the only question is, would he have gone straight to him, or stopped somewhere along the way," Ash mused.

"What?" James asked facing him, totally lost now.

"To Hunter," Ash said, as though speaking to a particularly slow child. "You've got to know that's where he would have gone. The man's been a sire to him, kept him by his side all these years. You don't think the pull would be this strong?"

James gave it a couple of moments of consideration before deciding that Ash's possibility was a more than likely one.

"God, this is more serious than I'd even given credit for thinking," James exhaled.

"You're not joking," Ash returned.

*

"I've been able to keep a link on him thus far," Thierry revealed when Hugh, Chess and Hannah came to report the news to him after everyone else had shied away from the job. "He hasn't gotten into contact with Hunter again yet, but that is definitely where he is heading."

"Why don't you stop him?" Chess asked.

"It would be a useless endeavor. There would be nothing to stop him from doing it again next time, only with more information to report back to Hunter with," Thierry said dolefully.

This was as down as Hannah had ever seen him in the short time they'd had together in this life. She worried about the pressure gathering on top of him.

"In either case, we have more pressing matters to worry about than the antics of a four year old appearing vampire," Thierry said, "As cold as that may sound. Rashel will have to understand that we couldn't keep him here. There was no way that we could have helped him after all the years that. . ."

He stopped and took a breath, the three Old Souls watching him carefully.

"Grandma Harman has had another dream. We have reason to believe the Dark Kingdom has already captured and is currently holding the second Wild Power. It's not going to be so easy to get this one back to us."

Hannah squeezed his hand comfortingly.

"Come now, we'll let everyone else in on it. You just concentrate on the finding out of relevant news. We'll organize this next mission," Hannah offered.

Thierry gave a tired smile.

"You are sent from Divinity, my love," he murmured, pulling gently on her arm that had squeezed his hand and drew her into a tender, lasting kiss.

When they finally pulled away, Hannah looked dazed, murmuring softly, totally forgetting of the other two still present in the room until Hugh cleared his throat discreetly.

"We'd better get onto that now," he murmured, looking away subtly as Hannah blushed lightly before Chess took her arm and led her out of the room with a smile directed towards Thierry before the door closed behind them all.

*

"We've just heard news from a spy within the Dark Kingdom," Hunter greeted his eldest daughter just as she entered into the walls of his private house. "They think that a Wild Power is not only kept there, but has been taught his art without outside Night World interference. . ."

"We had a tale," Lily interrupted him in a growl.

"I assume you. . . took care of it?" Hunter questioned, changing direction as swiftly as she and without show of undue emotion.

"No," Lily spat in disgust. "Not as well as I would have liked. After the confrontation against those stupid Daybreakers, we were not up to proper form."

"Well then, next time, I'm sure," Hunter said, watchfully.

Lily scoffed.

"Damned Daybreakers," she muttered. "So, another Wild Power to snuff out before they get to him, is it?"

"We'll get them in the end," Hunter repeated, his mood for sharing now passed. "But for now. . . How is Pierce coming along for you?"

"He worked well against his old gang members," Lily replied. "Gave us an element of surprise that worked in our favor, but it wasn't enough. I doubt that we will have any continued need of him in the future though," she ended dismissively.

"I will leave that to your discretion. For now though, I have an interesting development to bring to your attention," Hunter said, a strange expression coming over his face. "Word has reached the witches of what we stand for. Some have even grown a rather pointed interest in us."

Lily narrowed her eyes. She couldn't see where her father was going with this, and she wasn't in the mood for games at the moment. In the short period of months, they had lost far too much from their side. It had all began with that vermin loving Quinn, the traitor! Boy would she have words to say to him the next time she came across him on even ground.

"Where I am going with this, dearest daughter," Hunter said reprovingly, as he saw the thoughts forming in her mind, "Is that some have arrived here to us. Lily, I would like you to meet Vivienne Morrigan, Selene Lucna and Sylvia Weald, all witches of Circle Midnight."

Lily only looked down on them with superiority. Selene raised her eyebrows at the only living daughter of Hunter Redfern.

"Nice to meet you too," she replied with heavy irony.

Lily sniffed derogatively, before turning to Hunter again and blocking the three witches completely out of her line of vision.

"I'm retiring to my quarters. I don't wish to be interrupted, no matter what." That last bit was directed quite pointedly as Lily turned and swept away up the stairs and out of sight.

*

Rashel, Raven and Quinn were not long in returning to Circle Daybreak after their trail had gone cold. It was Fayth who revealed the news to Rashel of her brother.

"Timmy," Rashel murmured, sorrow flooding into her eyes, but before it could be given the chance to seep over, she turned her head away. "Excuse me. I'm going up to my room."

Quinn gave a slight stretch of his lips before following after his soulmate, feeling the tears that she would not show. Raven and Fayth were left alone in the room together.

"Hi. My name is Fayth," she introduced, at a partial loss.

"Raven," the vampire replied. "Can I go in to see Jez and Morgead?"

*


	9. A Noble Quest, and a Love that can Never Be

"We need to figure this out, and now. We have one Wild Power," Hannah paused and looked kindly towards Jez, before resuming, "But that still means that there are three out there, somewhere. Those are the ones we need to focus on now. We're going to need three separate parties to go off after the three of them. We've heard that one of them is in captivity already, but the other two are still in unawares as far as well know, which means that we're only going to have to work harder. We have to all be together in this."

"Uh, excuse me, but is it too late to sign up to this group?" an unexpected voice questioned suddenly.

Heads from all over the room turned to face the newbies who had just arrived. Hannah's eyes met Nilsson's man who had allowed them in and saw the slight nod of acceptance that he directed towards her.

"Hi, I'm Keller, this is Winnie and Nissa. We're the best from the Californian Circle Daybreak faction. I'm sure you can see what we are, which I'm hoping will help you to believe that we are sincere in our wanting to help. Heard that you needed to round up another one of these Wild Powers in this area?" The shapeshifter seemed to be in the lead of this small group, Lupe noted with a certain amount of interest.

"So, are we too late to join up?" Keller asked a second time.

Hannah made a quick take of the room to ascertain that there were no great objections to this, but as far as she could see, there was only interest and curiosity in majority around the room. She nodded, noticing as she did that Nilsson's man stepped back, probably to report back to Thierry on their latest arrivals, who couldn't have arrived at a better time!

"Providing you're prepared to work with us, you're in," she announced. "Now find a place to sit. We have some organization to work through."

*

Hugh was setting off in the direction of the Dark Kingdom that Circle Daybreak had gotten wind of through the Maiden of the witches, Aradia. Circle Twilight had been thoroughly disbanded in the face of the upcoming Millennium. There were only two sides to be had; light and dark. All too many had already gone over to Hunter, but more than a few had decided on Circle Daybreak.

Many of those were in the group who had gone in ahead with Aradia as they tried to approach the newest Wild Power with diplomacy. Hugh, Blaise and Kestrel were to follow up behind in case anything went wrong and they were to report back to the Circle Daybreak mansion. James, Rashel, Morgead, Lupe and Raven had been picked out for muscle power in defense of the witches.

It seemed an almost flawless plan, until an attack against them succeeded.

It came on so suddenly that retreat was the only option left open to them by all who survived the initial attack. By the time that they reassembled themselves further back from the boundaries of the Dark Kingdom, where the attack had taken place, they realized that Aradia was no longer with them.

*

Hugh froze. Something had gone horridly wrong, and now someone was. . . speaking inside of his mind? He shook it for instant clarity, and Kestrel who was standing beside him looked at him warily.

"Are you alright?" she asked with trepidation.

"Fine, just. . ." And there it was again! Whatever it was, Hugh wasn't appreciating it. Especially now when there were far more important things to be worried about.

iSend help. Backup. We are alive. We have seen the Wild Power. Follow onward.i

The voice sounded almost like a whisper on the wind, and just as weak and elusive. In all the years of his life, even after he had awakened to the fact of his being an Old Soul, nothing like this had ever happened to him.

"Hugh, what is it?" This time the lamia's voice was testy as she asked him. There didn't seem any point in lying. In either case, the witch who was here with them might actually understand what was going on here.

"I keep hearing. . . voices in my head," he said in distraction.

"Voices?" Kestrel asked, looking doubtfully towards Blaise. The witch's steady eyes remained on Hugh.

Voices? No, that wasn't quite right. "No, it's just one. A whispering in my mind of someone else," was all he could supply, in complete bafflement.

He watched Blaise's eyes narrow.

"What is it saying to you?" she wanted to know.

Hugh concentrated again.

iTrust. Appeal to them from their hearts. Believe in me. Believe in this.i

"It's saying to trust. To believe," Hugh replied haltingly. "That they, whoever they are, are in trouble."

Then, as sudden as that, a blissful expression came over his face.

"The soulmate principle," he whispered. Then he appeared to remember that Kestrel and Blaise were still staring at him strangely. "The witches. We must go to them. Now. They have the Wild Power near to them."

"Shouldn't we talk to Thierry about this?" Blaise questioned as she and Kestrel lagged behind. Hugh was already busy gathering the witches who were still assembled, James and the other vampires.

"Unlike some, he doesn't seem so hesitant about his soulmate," Kestrel replied pointedly, before following closer to Hugh and the rest.

*

"So, you're Delos Redfern," James said, measuring him up and down.

Delos' chin lifted with pride.

"I am," was all he answered with.

"James," he introduced himself. "Redfern. I think you might have been introduced to one of the less popular Redferns first up. Shall we try this again?"

Looking quickly towards Maggie, who was still standing close to her newly recovered brother, Miles, Delos smiled at James with a quick nod.

"I think I'd like that," he replied, and the two Redferns shook hands.

"You weren't a shapeshifter before, were you?" Lupe asked, coming over to Maggie and Miles and introducing herself before asking Miles the question.

Miles shook his head.

"It's still relatively new. Better now, of course, now that I don't have the witch's curse on me on top of everything else. Could be worse things than a falcon," Miles answered, tightening his arm around his sister's waist.

"Yeah, you could have been just dead," Maggie responded smartly.

Morgead seemed rather less patient to get things over here and return to the Circle Daybreak mansion. Perhaps it was all the fuss Rashel, Kestrel and Raven were making over the new Wild Power. Either that or the way that Hugh was looking down at Aradia, holding her arm lightly as they spoke in quiet tones was making the vampire conscious that his Wild Power soulmate was not here with him too.

"Alright then, who's coming back with us then?" he questioned pointedly, cutting off the current catch ups and conversations without remorse. Many of the Daybreakers looked over to him in surprise, before their expressions acceded that his was a valid question to be asked right now.

In the end, it was Morgead, James, Delos and Maggie who led the way. When the witches weren't crowding around her, Hugh and Aradia were hand in hand, looking into each others eyes as only a soulmate could understand with a blind Maiden of the Witches. Lupe was filling Miles in on what it meant to be a shapeshifter within Circle Daybreak, only the third one thus far. Raven, Rashel, Jeanne and P.J backed up the group, and Kestrel and Blaise were wandering somewhere in between.

"They almost look happy," Blaise murmured. "Regardless of the fact that the possible end of the world may be upon us even as we speak, they all look. . . satisfied."

Kestrel looked around, considering the group they walked within.

"They've all got a purpose. A reason for being, I suppose," she said a while later.

Blaise couldn't help but agree. And why should she deny herself what everyone else had seemed to find within Circle Daybreak? Problem was, that it had gone on for so long now, that Blaise didn't even know if she could find the words she wanted to say here.

Kestrel gazed at her from beneath her eyelashes, alerted by the change in her soulmate's thoughts. Such a strong willed personality. No less would have appealed to her, she surmised. However, she was not going to make this any easier for the witch. Not after all the hell that she had put Kestrel through these past months!

"Kestrel. . ." Blaise's voice trailed off, and Kestrel couldn't help but be disappointed. What else could she do here? She had all but laid herself on a platter to be picked at.

She listened as Blaise took a deep breath in, noticing it possibly because it was one of the innate differences between the two of them. Breathing had never been mandatory to her kind. All the same, Blaise's next movements took her totally by surprise.

Pausing in the middle of the group, Blaise suddenly took a hold of both of Kestrel's upper arms. Although Kestrel knew that with the slightest effort, she would have been able to get away; the witch's strength was nothing to a lamia vampire, Kestrel wanted only to wait and see how this was about to be played out.

She wasn't disappointed. Less than a second later, Blaise's lips were upon hers. Soft and cool, exactly as Kestrel had always imagined them being. She was in a heaven visited to her because Blaise had finally found it within her to be able to give in to what was so alive between them. She felt her mind open up to the soulmate connection that was greater than both of them together, and willfully lost herself within it.

*

"Hunter's not going to like this," Dani laughed shakily as the second Wild Power was introduced to everyone at Circle Daybreak.

"That's two down, two to go," Eric put in.

"Welcome to Circle Daybreak," Thea offered.

Delos nodded around to everyone in turn.

"It's, well, it's great to be here," he granted hesitantly. He still wasn't used to being a part of something big, around other people to whom he actually mattered as a person, not just a doomsday weapon.

Maggie was sitting comfortably on his lap, a large grin on her features. Even her brother, with his less than wonderful beginnings into the Night World seemed to have found an instant rapport with Lupe, who seemed more than happy to have him hanging on her words.

Everything seemed just perfect, as far as Maggie could see it. If only it could stay this way always; with many of the soulmates around the room laughing and enjoying the peaceful togetherness time they had been allowed, others like Hugh and Aradia, or Kestrel and Blaise simply enjoying the newness of it all.

Unfortunately, there was still Hunter Redfern to think about, and two other Wild Powers to ensure that they found before him and his lot. It wouldn't be long at all before the real world situation once again intruded on the relative peacefulness of life within Circle Daybreak.

*

"Uh, Hunter? There are some people here to see you."

"Send them away. I said no visitors today," Hunter replied moodily, without looking up at the witch who had interrupted him.

Vivienne looked slightly discomforted, but squared her shoulders in a way that said that she wasn't about to be pushed aside lightly, if he ever bothered to look at her.

"I think you'll be wanting to see these visitors," she reiterated, trying to put some strength into her voice, while facing this incredibly strong vampire whom she knew could kill her with a single, lithe movement.

Finally, Hunter looked up at her. The expression on his face was anything but friendly.

"Vivienne, I have given you orders. If you are so unable to follow them, perhaps you would have been better off dead instead of Sylvia!" he roared.

Vivienne's throat clenched and she had to force herself not to step back at the violence of his retort. Instead, she uttered mildly, "Sylvia was stupid. She should have known better than to try to take their side at the last minute."

For a moment, Vivienne was certain that Hunter was going to overstep from verbal violence and into the physical violence that she knew that he was more than capable of. However, another somewhat rasping voice interrupted just before he could make his move against her.

"Now now, Hunter. Is this the way that we are to be received? The mother of your own very children?"

Now Hunter looked beyond Vivienne, who had quickly stood aside at the first sound of this new female voice, and stared at the witch who had given him his three daughters and taken only one other away to be brought up in the ways of the Harman witches.

"Maeve, it has been a while," Hunter said. "And to what do I owe this privilege?"

Vivienne slipped out of the room quickly, seeing as how these two obviously had some pretty heavy catching up to do.

"What, a mother can not come to see her daughters? Or what is left of them," Maeve glared at Hunter reproachfully, speaking of course of the two younger daughters of Hunter's that were now dead. "Of course, it could be for you to see your other daughter, whom you so easily seem to forget."

Hunter hadn't realized that there was another woman standing in the shadows until Maeve indicated to her. She has got much lamia blood in her after all, Hunter found himself thinking with pride, before he started striding up to her.

"Roseclear, it has been far too long," he murmured, taking her hand in his.

"You've been busy with the end of the world," Roseclear responded. "It's understandable. That's why I decided to help you a little with it."

Hunter glanced up at Maeve in surprise, but her only expression was on her daughter, and so finally, Hunter looked down at his witch daughter again to ask her of what she walk speaking.

"Why father, I'm surprised that you have not already thought to ask it of us," Roseclear said in the same wintry tone of voice. "You have already lost two of the Wild Powers to the Daybreakers and their broken laws. You can not afford to lose anymore to them."

"And I suppose that you have a plan already set out to stop them?" Hunter asked with more than a little curiosity.

"I thought you would never ask," Roseclear smiled cruelly. "And the plan, it is already done."

At that moment, Hunter thought that he heard a dull roaring that was almost too low to be thought to be a true sound, except for the force that went behind it.

"That's right, father. We witches had the power to put away the dragons all those years ago, but what if now, we had a reason to bring them forth once again?" Roseclear asked, watching the expressions flit across her father's face carefully. "Hunter Redfern, I should like to introduce you to Azhdeha. One of the last dragons to be put away. And consequently, one of the strongest."

Azhdeha tossed his head, obviously less than happy to be paraded around in such a fashion, but still too weak from his awakening to do a great deal about it. Especially to those who were offering him the world again.

"See look!" Roseclear said, pointing in obvious glee when his dark hair shifted away from his forehead for an instant. "Five horns."

Even Hunter could not manage to keep a reaction hidden from that one. In all of the tales and myths of the dragons, it was stated that there were to be expected a number of three horns on the dragon's forehead; four in rare cases. But this one, Azhdeha, owned five!

"Yes father, just think of the powers we now have on our side. The shapeshifters will follow him no matter what promise ceremony the witches have planned, and after that, the Wild Powers don't stand a chance. It's brilliance," Roseclear pronounced with a smile.

Hunter didn't dispute that. He did, however, wonder why she would so easily turn her back on the others of her kind.

"Well that's easy. I'm tainted," she answered with a mock pout, when he asked the question out loud. "Too much a vampire to be any sort of true Harman witch. You should see how many times I have been over looked for the sake of my cousins. Even lost witches who have lived among humans their entire lives! But mother here tells me that when I came to you, this would not be the case. Especially if I brought something with me that was of infinite value to your entire cause."

"You have that," Hunter murmured, his eyes straying to the dragon once more.

Although he didn't currently look like much, the lamia vampire could feel the power radiating off of him like a stagnant heat wave. Barely shaking his head, he looked towards his daughter and the mother of all his daughters anew.

"Very well, need I welcome you over to our side? I'm sure that you will feel right at home. You'd be surprised at how many witches have actually chosen to join us here. And how many more are sure to when they see that we are the only side likely to come out of the Millennium battle alive."

*

When the time came around for the next project, it was Keller, Winnie, Nissa who were placed on the foremost run. As it was the Witch Child who was expected to be the next Wild Power, Grandma Harman requested a number of other witches for a second front after meeting with Iliana, the Wild Power in question, at one of the Circle Daybreak safe houses.

All of the other Harman descendents had already been checked for Wild Power potential, and now it seemed that it was all down to this one, ditzy looking human girl. It was Grandma Harman's hope that when faced with other witches around her own age who had gone through the same thing in recent times, they might be able to bring this new Wild Power around.

More than everything else, they needed her for a promise ceremony between the witches and the Prince of the First House of the shapeshifters if they were not to totally lose the allegiance of the shapeshifters in the war of the worlds that was coming. Gillian, Thea, Dani, Melusine as well as Nilsson, Chess, Eric were to make up the undercover group for the third Wild Power. Keller, Winnie or Nissa were without knowledge of this as it was put together after the girls and the shapeshifter prince in question, Galen, had already found and began bodyguarding Iliana.

All of this was put to a great stunt when news came from the L.A. faction of Circle Daybreak, directly from Thierry, that Grandma Harman had been mauled to death by renegade shapeshifters in full daylight and sight of humans.

Gillian held a hand over her mouth as though she were physically about to be ill. Thea's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but nothing came out as the wetness invaded her eyes and Eric's warm arms came around her suddenly chilled skin. Dani had to react quickly through the blurring in her own eyes to catch Melusine as she swayed and lost her balance. Chess and Nilsson, both frozen in action, just stared at each other, all color having left from their faces.

Nobody in the group could understand why such a thing could take place, unless it was an out and out declaration of war between the shapeshifters and the witches. But why would the do that with the promise ceremony so close on the way? Unless, the First House had never wished for that in the first place. . .

"Unfortunately, we do not have time to waste on speculation," Thierry was telling them in a broad mind broadcast. "We are still trying to figure out what it could all mean, but the most important thing for your group must remain getting Iliana to that promise ceremony, and back here afterwards unless further instructions make that impossible."

Gillian wasn't too sure, but she could have sworn that she actually could feel a tinge of shininess in the old made vampire's eyes. He blinked it away before she could grasp anything solid.

"We'll be sure to keep in touch, but just make sure to get everyone back here as soon as possible. It's not safe out there at the moment. Good luck."

As suddenly as he had reached them, he backed away. Emotions were still running high among the group. The witches themselves couldn't understand how they were going to get through this. How could they go on without a Crone, a leader of all the witches to keep them together? The situation had just appeared to go from bad to so much worse.

All the same, Thierry was right. All they could do now was go on as they had before.

*

Iliana had just bound herself to Keller and given freely the burden of the promise ceremony between witches and shapeshifters to Keller and Galen. Not that they looked as though they felt it to be a burden. Another pair of soulmates, and now, a third Wild Power on the side of Circle Daybreak.

To Thea, it almost identical to the set up that she and Blaise had faced almost a year ago now. So much had happened since then. Not the least was the fact that Grandma Harman was not standing here this time. Again, Thea felt herself tearing, but noticing something when she looked closer, she forced herself to keep her tears at bay for the moment.

From where she was standing, she could already see the age that Mother Cybele had appeared to gain in the time that the true Crone of the witches had been dead. Already, the Mother's body was changing itself for the new role that it was about to take on. Thea could see that it wasn't an ugly kind of aging that was creeping upon Mother Cybele, rather a truly regal one. Stopping herself from sighing, she was sure that had she looked across to where Aradia, the Maiden of all the witches, was standing, she would have seen a similar thing occurring there too. The wonders of witchcraft.

After the ceremony was done and over, Thea and the rest of the group with her stepped forward into the sight of all the witches and shapeshifters there assembled. Pitching her voice to a level that would be heard around the whole room, Thea spoke.

"We face dangerous times. The whole Night World is split. I appeal to whoever will come to join us as we return to the L.A. faction of Circle Daybreak, and Thierry Decoudres. We have three of the Wild Powers. The fourth will be the hardest of all."

*


End file.
